TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2020 /CNW/ - Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") has completed the quarterly rebalance of the constituent holdings of the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF ("HMMJ":TSX) and the Horizons US Marijuana Index ETF ("HMUS":NEO).
HMMJ is the world's first ETF offering direct exposure to North American-listed securities that have significant business activities in the marijuana industry. This quarter, seven constituents were removed from HMMJ's portfolio:
Deletions
| Company Name | Ticker | Exchange |
| Agraflora Organics International Inc. | AGRA | CSE |
| Supreme Cannabis Co. | FIRE | TSX |
| Khiron Life Sciences Corp. | KHRN | TSX-V |
| Namaste Technologies Inc. | N-X | TSX-V |
| Pharmacielo Ltd. | PCLO | TSX-V |
| Sundial Growers Inc. | SNDL | NASDAQ |
| WeedMD Inc. | WMD | TSX-V |
HMMJ is an index (or passively managed) ETF, which seeks to replicate, to the extent possible, the performance of the North American Marijuana Index, net of expenses. This index is designed to provide exposure to the performance of a basket of North American publicly listed life sciences companies with significant business activities in the marijuana industry. The North American Marijuana Index selects from a current universe of companies that have operations that may include one or more offerings of biopharmaceuticals, medical manufacturing, distribution, bio-products and other ancillary businesses related to the marijuana industry. Securities within HMMJ's index generally have a market capitalization of greater than C$75 million.
"Despite a strong recovery in Q2 2020 following the market volatility in March, Canada's marijuana industry struggled in the third quarter in the face of COVID-19's continued pressure on businesses and a lack of positive news to buoy the sector," said Steve Hawkins, President and CEO of Horizons ETFs. "Additionally, growing confidence in potentially increasing federal political support for U.S.-based multi-state operators (MSOs) has resulted in net new money in the sector being increasingly allocated to U.S. names rather than the Canadian licensed producers."
Rebalancing of the North American Marijuana Index, and consequently HMMJ, occurs each calendar quarter. At that point, all stocks eligible for inclusion in the index are generally re-weighted by their respective market capitalization.
The holdings of HMMJ and its current portfolio weights are regularly updated and available at https://www.HorizonsETFs.com/HMMJ. It is important to note that HMMJ may not hold all of the constituent names in its index. The manager of the HMMJ, through the use of a stratified sampling strategy, may invest in securities that closely match the investment characteristics of HMMJ's index, provided they are consistent with the ETF's investment objectives and strategies.