Investing in Democracy to Improve Risk-Adjusted Returns – Westwood Holdings Group – 5.13.25

Overview:
Title: Investing in Democracy to Improve Risk-Adjusted Returns
Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Duration: 1 hour

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Summary:

Worried about your exposure to China amid the escalating trade tensions with the US? Wondering how your portfolio could be impacted by rising geopolitical instability? Are there other country risks besides China?

Nobel prize winning academics have established that in the long run, autocracy underperforms democracy. TOBAM’s LBRTY index strategy leverages this research to show that companies that are exposed to authoritarian regimes are at risk. The Westwood LBRTY Global Equity ETF (BFRE) not only screens out stocks that are listed in autocratic nations, but it also reduces exposure to stocks listed in democratic countries that we believe are most reliant on the excluded autocracies.

The BFRE removes Chinese companies, and systematically reduces the weight in the US and other democratically listed companies that may be the most exposed to China, and as a result could suffer from the current tariff turmoil.

Accepted for 1 CFP/ IWI / CFA CE Credit

Speakers:
Drew Miyawaki Drew Miyawaki Senior Vice President, Director, Managed Investment Solutions Westwood

Mr. Miyawaki joined Westwood in 2023 and is a Senior Vice President and Director of Managed Investment Solutions. The team is responsible for creating outcome-oriented, adaptable and transparent investment solutions designed to address a broad range of evolving client needs. Mr. Miyawaki has over 20 years of U.S. and international experience on both the buy and sell sides. He has held head of equity trading roles at numerous firms, most recently at Chicago-based LGIMA, with a focus on improving client outcomes across a diverse universe of global indices. Mr. Miyawaki relocated to the U.S. from London to globalize the trading function and help build a U.S.-based index business at LGIM. Prior to working at LGIM in London, he held sell side positions at Knight Capital, Liquidnet and Jefferies, with a focus on portfolio, algorithmic and electronic trading and transaction cost analysis.

Mr. Miyawaki holds a BSc in behavioral science from Drew University.

Philippe Bolopion Philippe Bolopion Managing Director TOBAM

Philippe Bolopion is the New York-based Managing Director at TOBAM, where he also serves as a product leader and Co-Head of Long-Term Investing. With a rich background in journalism, having covered the United Nations for Le Monde, France 24, and Radio France Internationale, Bolopion later transitioned to advocacy and leadership roles at Human Rights Watch. At TOBAM, he plays a key role on the Civil and Democratic Rights Committee, assessing country risk with international experts. He also focuses on business development for the LBRTY® strategy, supporting research, marketing, and communications.
To determine if this Fund is an appropriate investment for you, carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risk factors and charges and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus which may be obtained by downloading at westwoodetfs.com or calling (800) 994-0755. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

The Fund is newly formed and has limited operating history.

As with any mutual fund or ETF, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Many factors influence a fund’s performance. An investment in the Fund is not intended to constitute a complete investment program and should not be viewed as such. All securities investing and trading activities risk the loss of capital. The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value and total return.

The fund is subject to Authorized Participant Concentration Risk: Only an Authorized Participant (as defined in the “How to Buy and Sell Shares” section of this prospectus) may engage in creation and redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting.

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