The Noble Absolute Return ETF (NOPE), an exchange traded fund launched by hedge fund veteran George Noble in September last year to provide “access to strategies that are typically not available to average investors”, is to liquidate after less than a year, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The fund, which took both long and short equity positions, has fallen 59% since its debut, while the S&P 500 is up 23% over the same period and the Nasdaq 100 has seen a 36% gain.
NOPE shorted a number of tech stocks that have posted big gains in 2023 on the back of a wider sector rally – fuelled, in part, by hype over AI – following a painful 2022.
The report cites data from Bloomberg as showing that the ETF’s biggest short position was a bet against the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 fund (QQQ), which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100. NOPE also holds wagers against electric-vehicle-maker Tesla, which has more than doubled so far this year, and chipmaker Nvidia which is up about 190% in 2023.
NOPE will cease trading on 24 August.
