Dave Portnoy-Backed ETF Gets $280 Million Despite First-Day Drop

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 01: Dave Portnoy attends Tiesto Performs At Bootsy Bellows x E11EVEN Miami 2019 BIG GAME WEEKEND EXPERIENCE at RavineATL on February 01, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for E11EVEN) , Photographer: Paras Griffin/Getty Images North America

Sam Potter, Bloomberg News

Mar 5, 2021

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(Bloomberg) -- A slump on its first day of trading proved no deterrent for investors piling into the new online sentiment ETF backed by Dave Portnoy.

The VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment exchange-traded fund (ticker BUZZ) fell alongside most U.S. stocks in its debut on Thursday, but still managed to attract $280 million of inflows, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Although fund settlement schedules make it difficult to compare first-day inflows, BUZZ’s start probably ranks it among the 12 best debuts on record, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Most other ETFs with massive first-day flows come from large issuers like BlackRock Inc. and launch with pre-arranged funding.

Read more: Portnoy-Backed ETF Sees Third-Highest Volume Ever in a Debut

BUZZ opened at $24.40 and closed down 3.6% at $23.52.

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