SURE: 1st Quarter 2025 Portfolio Review
Portfolio Review
The Trump administration officially kicked off “Trade War 2.0” on April 2 by announcing a sweeping tariff schedule aimed at all its major trading partners, in addition to a 10% baseline tariff for everyone. Such a move took the world by surprise and unleashed a vortex of volatility across global markets. All asset classes experienced wild swings in the days following the announcement. Amid such heightened levels of uncertainty, investors should pay attention to strategies that offer stability. We believe the AdvisorShares Insider Advantage ETF (SURE) could be one of the candidates in the equity space.
To start, public companies remain committed to repurchasing their own shares, despite the brewing trade war. During the first quarter of 2025, they announced $323 billion worth of new stock buyback authorizations, up 7% compared to the same period in 2024. Booking Holdings (BKNG), one of the holdings in SURE, tops the list of companies with the largest buyback additions in Q1, adding $20 billion to its buyback capacity. Other companies in the SURE portfolio with large buyback increases include HCA Healthcare (HCA, +$10 billion) and American International Group (AIG, +$7.5 billion).
Source: Qubed Capital, LLC. As of 4.10.2025.
The quantitative strategy underlying SURE also looks for signals such as insider buying. During periods of market stress, we typically see increased buying activity from corporate insiders. While insider buying can’t compare with stock buyback programs in terms of dollar amounts, it can serve as a confidence booster, as insiders use their own money to purchase their company’s shares. Insiders are usually considered those who know their companies best, and once they start buying, it conveys a message that they believe stock prices are below their perceived intrinsic value.
From a sector allocation perspective, SURE is more balanced compared to typical market-cap weighted benchmarks. In the S&P 500 Index, Information Technology, Financials, and Health Care are the three sectors with the largest weights, collectively accounting for 55% of the entire index, with Tech companies alone comprising 30%. In SURE, none of the sectors weigh more than 20%. Because the fund is equally weighted, investors gain exposure to various sectors more evenly.
Source: Qubed Capital, LLC. As of 4.10.2025.
GICS stands for Global Industry Classification Standard, a four-tiered system used to categorize companies into sectors, industry groups, industries, and sub-industries. It’s a widely accepted standard for classifying companies, facilitating comparisons and analysis across various markets.
While the “reciprocal tariffs” are mostly paused for 90 days following President Trump’s announcement on April 9, it is difficult to imagine that markets will sail smoothly from here. Trade negotiations are often highly technical and time-consuming. With some 70 nations waiting in line, we foresee that the only certainty is more uncertainty ahead. SURE invests in 100 companies that collectively have $367 billion worth of stock buyback capacity. This dry powder could prove handy when the storm gathers again.
Top Holdings
| Ticker | Security Description | Portfolio Weight % |
| YUM | YUM! BRANDS INC | 1.29% |
| AIG | AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP | 1.28% |
| MO | ALTRIA GROUP INC | 1.26% |
| G | GENPACT LTD | 1.22% |
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC | 1.22% |
| CHE | CHEMED CORP | 1.19% |
| MA | MASTERCARD INC – A | 1.18% |
| HIG | HARTFORD INSURANCE GROUP INC | 1.18% |
| OTIS | OTIS WORLDWIDE CORP | 1.18% |
| MPW | MEDICAL PROPERTIES TRUST INC | 1.16% |
As of 3.31.2025. Holdings are subject to change.
Respectfully,
Minyi Chen
Qubed Capital, LLC
AdvisorShares Insider Advantage ETF (SURE) Portfolio Strategist
Past Commentary
– A buyback (or repurchase) occurs when a company repurchases its own shares from the marketplace, reducing the number of shares outstanding.
– An insider is an officer, director, executive, entity, or individual that owns more than 10% of a publicly traded company’s shares.
– Insider buying is the legal purchase of shares in a firm by a corporate insider that is not based on non-public, material information and follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and reporting requirements.
– The S&P 500 Index is a broad-based, unmanaged measurement of changes in stock market conditions based on the average of 500 widely held common stocks. One cannot invest directly in an index.
*On September 1, 2022, the AdvisorShares DoubleLine Value Equity ETF (the “Predecessor Fund”) was renamed the AdvisorShares Insider Advantage ETF. The Predecessor Fund had different portfolio managers and investment strategy than the AdvisorShares Insider Advantage ETF. Performance prior to September 1, 2022 reflects the Fund’s performance prior to the change in manager and investment strategy and may not be indicative of the Fund’s performance under the new manager and revised investment strategy. Performance since September 1, 2022 reflects actual AdvisorShares Insider Advantage ETF performance.
Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus or summary prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Fund’s website at www.AdvisorShares.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest. Foreside Fund Services, LLC, Distributor.
The Fund’s investment focus follows a core philosophy that corporate insiders know their companies best. The Advisor believes that insider buying and stock buyback programs not only show that corporate insiders see relative value in investing in their own company’s equity securities, but also create favorable market conditions by reducing public equity float (i.e., the share supply available to investors on the public secondary market). The Advisor allocates the Fund’s portfolio using research from a disciplined and quantitative proprietary model, the U.S. Insiders Edge Model, developed by Qubed Capital, LLC. In utilizing the model, the Advisor seeks to remove emotion from day-to-day decision-making by following a systematic process.
The Fund is an actively-managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve its investment objective by primarily investing in a portfolio of U.S. traded companies selected from a universe of the largest 3,000 U.S. equity securities based on market capitalization. When models and data prove to be incorrect or incomplete, any decisions made in reliance thereon expose the Fund to potential risks. In addition, the use of predictive models has inherent risk.
The views in this commentary are those of the portfolio manager/strategist and may not reflect his views on the date this material is distributed or anytime thereafter. These views are intended to assist shareholders in understanding their investments and do not constitute investment advice.