Up 1,000%: It pays to be ‘basic’ with Becky ETF
The stereotype of a ‘basic’ girl is reminding everyone of a simple rule: invest in what you know.
The ‘Becky’ exchange traded fund (ETF) is not an officially listed ETF but rather a simulation that focuses on where upper- and middle-class women spend their money.
There are a few variations of the same thing, but typically the Becky ETF invests in things like Apple, Lululemon, Netflix, Pinterest and more.
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The investment strategy appears to have stemmed from an article in the Harvard Business Review called Female Economy, which found women make a significant amount of the purchasing decisions in households.
For example, the article said women make decisions about home furnishings in 94 per cent of households, vacations 92 per cent of the time, 60 per cent of the time for automobiles, and 51 per cent of the time for consumer electronics.
The Becky ETF is attempting to track the spending habits of well-off women, and it appears to have worked.
TrackInsight found Becky's performance between January 2015 and December 2020 gained 1,079 per cent compared to the US market’s S&P 500 index, which rose 84 per cent.
“That is some jaw-dropping returns that few fund managers can brag about,” TrackInsight said.
“Unfortunately, there's no tracking post-2020, but one must assume that the four-digit returns are still holding strong, especially with the overall market recovery amid economic reboots and revival of the retail industries.”
The 10 main companies held in the fictional Becky index are:
Adobe
Apple
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Etsy
Facebook
Lululemon
Netflix
Pinterest
Peloton
Shopify
The investment strategy has become popular on Reddit, with at-home investors posting updates on how their own version of the Becky ETF is tracking.
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