Frequently asked questions

When did the fund launch?

October 1, 2024.

Where does the fund trade?

Nasdaq

What is GQQQ?

The Astoria US Quality Growth Kings ETF (GQQQ) is designed to provide exposure to US growth companies that also exhibit robust quality characteristics.  The ETF leverages Astoria’s quantitative stock selection research process.  We blend quality and growth characteristics to mitigate volatility and target higher risk adjusted returns.

What does GQQQ cost?

0.35%

Who is Astoria?

Astoria is an investment management firm that specializes in research-driven, cross-asset, ETF, and quantitative equity portfolio construction. Our core services include investment management, research, and sub-advisory services.

As of August 30, 2024, Astoria oversees approximately $1.87 bln in assets under management and advisement on behalf of its clients. This number includes assets under management of approximately $439.7 mln in discretionary assets, $146 mln in the Astoria US Equal Weight Quality Kings ETF (ROE) and $71 mln in the AXS Astoria Inflation Sensitive ETF (PPI) and $146 mln in the Astoria US Equal Weight Quality Kings ETF (ROE).

Additionally, Astoria oversees approximately $1,217.8 mln in advisory assets, which are non-managed strategies powered by Astoria’s research, investment management services, portfolio construction analytics, model portfolios, outsourced Chief Investment Officer support, or other non-managed investment assignments.

What role does Astoria serve?

Astoria serves as a sub-advisor for the ETF, and the fund resides in ETF Architect’s trust.

What role does GQQQ fill in a portfolio?

Does GQQQ  invest in large cap US stocks?

No. We choose quality growth stocks within the US large/mid cap universe instead of solely large-cap stocks, which many of our peers focus on.

Why did you launch GQQQ?

Astoria launched GQQQ because returns from the growth factor tend to come with higher volatility, while the quality factor historically has shown the ability to outperform the broader market providing higher risk-adjusted returns compared to other factors. We wanted to build an ETF composed of a blend of these two factors providing high quality growth.

What is the universe of stocks you select from?

All primary listings in the United States.  There are 3 additional criteria a stock must meet to get into the universe.

Percent of Free Float Shares > 25%

Current Market Value > $5bln

Average Volume Past 6 Months > $50mln

I need more details on the screening process.  Can you share?

Astoria utilizes metrics that define quality and growth across all 11 GICS sectors found across the equity market.

The metrics defining each factor are sector relative, meaning the metrics that have best historically captured the factor for that sector are used (Ex, Growth: Estimate revisions for Technology and PEG Estimate for Communication Services).

We then subtract each metric’s median, by sector, from the original metric in the screen. The resulting adjusted metric is used in the ranking process.

All ranking is done in deciles (1 = best, 10 = worst). Each stock is assigned a rank corresponding to each factor. A weighted average rank of the individual factor ranks is calculated and re-ranked to determine each stock’s final rank.

The number of stocks selected for each sector is based on the targeted sector composition relative to the broader US growth universe. Active tilts may be implemented if there is macro data to support higher/lower convictions on specific sectors.

How are the stocks weighted?

The top ranked stocks are market-cap-weighted in a sector-optimized fashion relative to the broader US growth universe.