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KKM Financial’s Essential 40 stock fund is now an ETF

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The Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. 

Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images

KKM Financial has converted its Essential 40 mutual fund into an ETF, joining the growing shift by asset managers to a more tax-efficient fund model.

ETFs make it easier for investors and financial advisors with taxable accounts to choose when to create capital gains or losses. This differs from mutual funds, which can sometimes hit their investors with an unwanted tax bill due to withdrawals or portfolio changes.

“When you look at the tax efficiency of an ETF compared to a mutual fund, it is much more advantageous,” said Jeff Kilburg, founder and CEO of KKM and a CNBC contributor. “A lot of the wealth advisors that I work with really have issues with the capital gain distribution typical to a mutual fund.”

Many asset managers have been converting their mutual funds to ETFs in recent years, due in part to a 2019 SEC rule change that made it easier to run active investment strategies within an ETF. The number of active equity mutual funds has fallen to its lowest level in 24 years, according to Strategas.

More broadly, many asset managers are pushing the SEC to allow ETFs to be added as a separate share class within existing mutual funds.

The newly-converted KKM fund will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker ESN. The goal of the Essential 40 is to allow investors to “buy what you use” in one equal-weighted fund, according to Kilburg. Its holdings include JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, Waste Management and Eli Lilly, according to FactSet.

“We believe without these companies, the U.S. economy would be hindered, or would be in trouble,” he said.

The old mutual fund version of the Essential 40 had a three star rating from Morningstar. Its best relative performance in recent years came in 2022, when it declined less than 11% — much better than the category average of about 17%, according to Morningstar.

Equal-weighted funds can often outperform market-cap weighted indexes during downturns. They’ve also been a popular strategy this year, due in part to concerns that the market was too reliant on the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) has brought in more than $14 billion in new investor funds this year, according to FactSet.

In 2024, the KKM fund was up about 16% year to date before its conversion, with roughly $70 million in assets, according to FactSet.

The ETF will have a net expense ratio of 0.70%, equal to that of the old mutual fund.

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How buy now, payer later apps could be crushing your credit

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Small, everyday purchases like a meal from DoorDash are now able to be financed through eat now, pay later options — a practice that some experts deem “predatory.”

“You’ve got to have enough sense to not follow the urge to finance a taco, okay? You have got to be an adult,” career coach Ken Coleman told “The Big Money Show,” Wednesday. 

“This is predatory, and it’s going to get a lot of people in deep trouble.”

RISKS OF BUY NOW, PAY LATER: ‘TICKET TO OVERSPENDING,’ EXPERT SAYS

klarna, doordash

DoorDash and Klarna are now partnering up to extend buy now, pay later options to consumers. (Reuters, Getty / Getty Images)

Financial wellness experts are continuously sounding the alarm to cash-strapped consumers, warning them of the devastating impact this financial strategy could have on their credit score as some lenders will begin reporting those loans to credit agencies.

Consumers may risk getting hit with late fees and interest rates, similar to credit cards. 

“So your sandwich might show up on your FICO score, especially if you pay for it late,” FOX Business’ Jackie DeAngelis explained.

EXPERTS WARN HIDDEN RISKS OF BUY NOW, PAY LATER

Major players like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna have risen to prominence at a time when Americans continue to grapple with persisting inflation, high interest rates and student loan payments, which resumed in October 2023 after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Big Money Show” co-host Taylor Riggs offered a different perspective, suggesting that company CEOs have a “duty” to attract as many customers as they want. 

“Unfortunately for me, this always comes down to financial literacy — which I know is so much in your heart about training people to save now by later,” she told Coleman, who regularly offers financial advice to callers on “The Ramsey Show.”

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Coleman continued to come to the defense of financially “desperate” consumers, arguing that companies are targeting “immature” customers. 

“I’m for American businesses being able to do whatever they want to do under the law. That’s fine. But let’s still call it what it is: it’s predatory, and they know who their customers are,” Coleman concluded, “And I’m telling you, they’re talking about weak-minded, immature, desperate people.”

FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.

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