An ETF is being launched that will track social-media buzz driven by platforms like Reddit

• VanEck is betting on the long-term value of social media chatter about stocks, the Financial Times reports.
• The Buzz NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index will serve as the underlying index.
• Space flight developer Virgin Galactic could benefit from the ETF's launch.

Asset manager VanEck is aiming to capitalize on social-media chatter centered around stocks by launching a social sentiment exchange-traded fund, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF will invest in stocks that most people are talking up on social media sites, with the Buzz NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index to serve as the underlying index, the FT reported Monday.

Wall Street this year has swung its attention to retail investors engaged on the Wall Street Bets page of the online community Reddit after they fueled a buying spree in heavily shorted stocks. A rally in GameStop shares notably forced hedge fund Melvin Capital close out its short position on the video-games retailer after suffering hefty losses.

The Buzz Index, which Van Eck has decided to license, aggregates content related to investment from Twitter, StockTwits and other sites, as well as blogs and news articles. The content is then analyzed through machine learning and artificial intelligence in an effort to "identify patterns, trends and changing sentiment which can affect market-based outcomes," the FT reported.

The portfolio, which is rebalanced monthly, is then formed by the 75 US large-cap stocks determined as having the highest degree of positive investor sentiment and bullish perception. Van Eck's ETF could drive up Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight developer overseen by billionaire Richard Branson, as it is the largest constituent of the Buzz Index.

The FT noted that the VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF is a revival of the Sprott Buzz Social Media Insights ETF which ended in March 2019 after running for more than three years.

"There is much more acceptance of the idea that there is a broad investment community out there and they do have interesting things to say," said Jamie Wise, a Toronto-based hedge fund manager and chief executive of Periscope Capital, which created the index, according to the FT.

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