Julie Cane, Chief Executive Officer and Richard Rikoski, Chief Economist at Democracy Investments joined Keith Black, Managing Director, RIA Channel to discuss the investment thesis behind The Democracy International Fund ETF: DMCY.
Democracy Investments, led by former Naval Officer and helicopter pilot, Julie Cane focuses its mission around advancing democracy and reversing authoritarianism around the world. “The Democracy International Fund was born out of our concern for both trends in democracy globally as well as the passive international index funds that have been over allocating to authoritarian states over the years,” says Cane. The firm’s inaugural ETF, DMCY provides international exposure to companies in both developed and emerging markets and is weighted by market cap and democracy scores. The index overweights democratic nations and underweights nations led by authoritarian regimes. Democracy Investments’ Chief Economist, Richard Rikoski speaks the to growing geopolitical risk and economic uncertainty in Russia and China and the investment case for overweighting nations led by democracy.
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Julie Cane | CEO, Managing Partner
Julie Cane’s 20+ year background in financial services includes developing market leading innovations at Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab Advisor Services, SEI Investments and Autodesk Ventures.
In 2002, Julie developed the Wells Fargo Private Bank’s first high net worth and segmentation strategies resulting in more than a 100% increase in the division’s profits during the next three years. At SEI Investments, she launched and marketed eleven new mutual funds and led the conversion of $500 million in common trust funds to private- label public mutual funds.
Julie began her career as a U.S. Naval Aviator flying the SH-3 Sea King helicopter. Julie is the Chairman of the Board of Swords to Plowshares, a nonprofit helping 3,000+ military veterans, and she recently served as a Captain in the California State Guard supporting the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field.
She holds a BA from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Rick Rikoski | Chief Economist, Partner
Rick Rikoski is a leading data scientist with more than 20 years of experience developing probabilistic algorithms.
He is the CEO and Chief Scientist of Hadal, a marine robotics company, which he co-founded in 2009. Prior to Hadal he was a civilian researcher at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, FL. He currently holds 30 issued US patents.
From 2014 to 2020, Rick served on the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board as a special government employee reporting to the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
Rick received a PhD in Marine Robotics and an S.M. in Ocean Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.