The ETF Pioneer Who Calls Narratives Before Wall Street

Summary

Andrew Chanin, CEO of ProcureAM and ETF pioneer, discusses his career spotting early narratives like cybersecurity, junior silver, and space. He outlines the bullish case for the space industry, driven by reusable rockets, militarization, and a new space race, with the UFO ETF as a pure-play expression. The conversation also touches on how overly long private-company stays affect ETFs and the potential for policy incentives in defense tech.

• Andrew Chanin shares his journey from ETF market maker during the 2008 crisis to launching thematic ETFs like HACK and UFO.
• He explains how reading fund prospectuses and spotting overlooked niches gave him an edge in product creation.
• The space industry thesis centers on reusable rockets slashing launch costs, enabling a new wave of commercial and government activity.
• Militarization of space is a critical driver, with nations treating it as strategic high ground and racing for low Earth orbit and lunar infrastructure.
• The UFO ETF offers diversified exposure to pure-play space companies, reducing single-name risk around SpaceX.
• The SpaceX IPO initially overheated the space trade, but the sector's fundamental long-term demand remains intact.
• Companies staying private longer limits early-access returns in public ETFs, but innovation continues with tokenization and new exposures.
• Avi Felman briefly notes Intel as a beneficiary of Trump's industrial policies, though the thesis is not deeply explored.