The folks at Tidal Financial Group are teaming up with a New York City-based research firm to launch a new ETF.

On Tuesday (September 17), Gavin Filmore (chief revenue officer at Tidal), Jordan Rizzuto ( managing partner, chief investment officer, and strategy architect of GammaRoad Capital Partners, LLC), and Matt Landon (president and chief operating officer of GammaRoad) revealed the launch of the GammaRoad Market Navigation ETF (GMMA on the NSYE Arca). Tidal Investments, LLC [profile] serves as the new fund's investment advisor, while GammaRoad serves as the fund's sponsor.

GMMA, a series of Tidal Trust II, comes with an expense ratio of 75 basis points (which bakes in a 9bps fee waiver promised through November 30, 2025). The new ETF's inception date was Monday (September 16), and as of yesteday (September 19) it had $1.51 million in AUM.

The new fund's PM team includes: Qiao Duan, portfolio manager at Tidal; Christopher Mullen, PM at Tidal; and Michael Venuto, chief investment officer at Tidal. VanEck's MarketVector Indexes GmbH serves as index provider.

Per GMMA's prospectus, the new ETF is actively managed, though the prospectus also says that GMMA "generally tracks an index," specifically the MarketVector - GammaRoad U.S. Equity Strategy Index. That index, based on methodology developed by GammaRoad, was launched by MarketVector on December 22, 2023. The index is designed to shift allocations among three ETFs daily, doing so based on an aggregate index signal about market risk.

Filmore puts the launch of GMMA in the context of markets continuing "to experience bouts of market volatility."

"Investors are increasingly seeking strategies that provide both downside protection and upside potential without the limitations of traditional hedging methods," Filmore states. "With the GammaRoad Market Navigation ETF, GammaRoad aims to deliver a solution that adapts dynamically to changing market conditions, offering a more balanced approach to navigating risk while still capitalizing on growth opportunities."

Rizzuto contrasts GMMA's strategy with "hedged equity and buffer strategies" which "primarily use options to reduce downside risk."

"Our strategy offers a systematic process to gradually adjust equity exposure as the risk environment changes, and aims to significantly reduce downside risk without limiting upside returns," Rizzuto states.

"Our strategy is designed to play both offense and defense, and seeks to provide equity investors with a less turbulent ride over the long term," Landon states.

GMMA's other service providers include: ACA's Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; Solactive AG as index calculation agent; Sullivan & Worcester LLP as counsel; Tait Weller & Baker as independent accounting firm; U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (dba U.S. Bank Global Fund Services) as fund accountant and transfer agent; and U.S. Bank National Association as custodian. 

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