The folks at a $10.4-billion-AUM (as of January 21) fund firm near Chicago are making changes to two cannabis-focused ETFs, even as they prepare to shut down a third.

Yesterday (January 28), Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify ETFs [profile], and Tim Seymour, chief investment officer of Seymour Asset Management, revealed investment policy tweaks to the Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ on the NYSE Arca) and the Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (CNBS). Lisle, Illinois-based Amplify Investments LLC serves as investment advisor to both funds, while Massapequa, New York-based Tidal Ivnestments LLC [profile] and Qogue, New York-based Seymour AM now serve as subadvisors to both funds. The passively managed MJ will continue to have a global focus, while the actively managed CNBS will now specifically have a domestic focus.

Effective yesterday, the Amplify team tweaked CNBS's strategy so that it specifically focuses on U.S. companies "enaged in cannabis and hemp-related activities," instead of any such companies worldwide. Also effective yesterday, the Prime Indexes team (index provider to MJ) tweaked the Prime Alternative Harvest Index (HARVEST, tracked by MJ) so that it's U.S. allocation is specifically to CNBS, and Amplify officially added Seymour AM as a subadvisor to MJ, along with Tim Seymour as a portfolio manager to the fund. Looking ahead, the Amplify team also plans reverse share splits (12 to 1) for both ETFs and CUSIP changes, all scheduled for February 21.

These changes to MJ and CNBS come after board approval on November 12, 2024, followed by the addition of Tidal as a subadvisor to CNBS on November 21, 2024. Tidal replaced a prior CNBS subadvisor, Penserra Capital Management LLC, and Tidal's Michael Venuto (CIO) and Charles Ragauss (head of trading) replaced Penserra's Christine Johanson (director), Dustin Lewellyn (CIO), and Ernesto Tong (managing director) on CNBS' PM team.

Magoon lauds Tim Seymour as one of the cannabis industry's "foremost authorities."

"We've positioned ourselves to enhance offerings and create what we believe is a competitive advantage," Magoon states.

Tim Seymour describes the U.S. cannabis industry "as the largest addressable market for sourcing cannabis investments."

"We seek exposure to the companies that are executing today and are well positioned for tomorrow's growth," Tim Seymour states. "We believe the integration of CNBS into MJ's methodology enhances investor access to a dynamic and growing sector and look forward to working closely with Prime Indexes, who founded the MJ reference index."

MJ has an expense ratio of 80 basis points (which bakes in a 36bps fee waiver promised through January 28, 2026). As of yesterday, the ETF had $144.463 million in AUM.

CNBS has an expense ratio of 76bps (baking in a 58bps fee waiver promised through March 1, 2026). As of yesterday, the fund had $68.577 million in AUM.

The PM team for CNBS now includes Ragauss, Seymour, and Venuto. The PM team for MJ now includes Ragauss, Seymour, and Tidal PM Qiao Duan.

MJ's inception date was December 3, 2015, when it launched as a very different fund: the Tierra XP Latin America Real Estate ETF (LARE). LARE transformed into the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJX) on December 26, 2017, then switched to the MJ ticker on February 9, 2018. Amplify adopted MJ from the fallen ETFMG in January 2024.

CNBS' history, in contrast, is shorter and simpler. The ETF debuted on July 23, 2019, with the same name, the same ticker, and the same investment advisor that it has now.

Both CNBS and MJ are series of the Amplify ETF Trust. The funds' other service providers include: Chapman and Cutler LLP as counsel; Cohen & Company as independent accounting firm; ACA's Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC as administrator, dividend disbursing agent, fund accounting agent, and transfer agent; and U.S. Bank National Association as custodian and securities lending agent. 

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