Roundhill Launches Esports ETF (NYSE:NERD) At 0.25% For Year 1

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Jun 04, 2019, 09:42 ET

NEW YORK, June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Roundhill Investments ("Roundhill"), a newly formed ETF sponsor focused on developing innovative financial products that appeal to the next generation of investors, today announced the launch of the firm's first fund, the Roundhill BITKRAFT Esports & Digital Entertainment ETF (NYSE ARCA: NERD).

The Roundhill BITKRAFT Esports & Digital Entertainment ETF ("NERD ETF") is designed to offer retail and institutional investors exposure to Esports and Digital Entertainment by tracking, before fees and expenses, the Roundhill BITKRAFT Esports Index ("NERD Index"). The NERD ETF and NERD Index are managed by Roundhill Investments.

The NERD Index is the first rules-based index designed to track the performance of the growing market of electronic sports, or "esports." The Index consists of a modified equal-weighted portfolio of globally-listed companies who are actively involved in the competitive video gaming industry. This classification includes, but is not limited to video game publishers, streaming network operators, video game tournament and league operators/owners, competitive team owners, and hardware developers.

Roundhill believes that esports and video games are the future of live media, sports and entertainment. The global video game market totaled $138 billion in 2018, with more than 2.3 billion gamers worldwide, according to Newzoo. Esports, defined as competitive video gaming in front of a viewing audience, is the driving force of that growth. Will Hershey, CEO of Roundhill explained, "over the past few years, the gaming landscape has evolved. Technological advances in streaming have transformed video games into spectator sports, with more than 450 million viewers worldwide (Newzoo)." Roundhill CIO Tim Maloney added, "Titles like Fortnite have become social phenomena, establishing video games as mainstays in popular culture. In 2018, more than 600,000 fans tuned in to watch Ninja and Drake (TEO) battle enemy squads, while earlier this year, 10 million attended an in-game Marshmello concert (TEO). The numbers are astounding, and this is just one title."

Jens Hilgers, Founding Partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, commented, "Together with the Roundhill team we are taking an important step forward in making esports more easily accessible on the public financial markets. The Roundhill BITKRAFT Esports and Digital Entertainment ETF enables institutional investors as well as individuals to participate in the long-term growth of esports and the underlying entertainment trends. Essentially, this ETF enables esports fans to invest in the field they love and believe in."

To encourage investors to add NERD to their portfolios, the fund will offer a fee waiver for the first year of trading, capping the fund's expense ratio at 0.25%. The firm intends to charge 0.50% per year thereafter.

To learn more about the fund, please visit NERDETF.com.

About BITKRAFT Esports Ventures
An early and mid-stage investor focused on the esports sector, BITKRAFT discovers, supports, and scales esports startups globally along with the industry's most influential companies.

BITKRAFT Esports Ventures was founded in 2017 by esports legend, Jens Hilgers. Hilgers previously founded ESL and served as CEO before selling the majority stake to MTG in 2015. In addition to serving as Managing Partner at BITKRAFT, Jens is the Co-Founder and Chairman of G2 Esports, and the CEO of DOJO Madness.

About Exchange Traded Concepts
Exchange Traded Concepts, as sub-advisor to the fund, provides a comprehensive portfolio management and trading solution. The team has extensive experience in managing global portfolios combined with broad product development and in-depth capital markets knowledge.

About Roundhill Investments
Roundhill Investments is a registered investment adviser focused on developing innovative financial products designed to offer exposure to investment themes that appeal to the next generation of investors. To learn more about the company, please visit roundhillinvestments.com.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the NERD ETF please call 1-855-561-5728 or visit the website at www.NERDETF.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Esports and gaming companies face intense competition, both domestically and internationally, may have limited product lines, markets, financial resources, or personnel, may have products that face rapid obsolescence, and are heavily dependent on the protection of patent and intellectual property rights. Such factors may adversely affect the profitability and value of esports and gaming companies. Investments made in small and mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile and less liquid due to limited resources or product lines and more sensitive to economic factors. Fund investments will be concentrated in an industry or group of industries, and the value of Fund shares may rise and fall more than more diversified funds. Foreign investing involves social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuation, high volatility and limited regulation risks. Emerging markets involve different and greater risks, as they are smaller, less liquid and more volatile than more developed countries. Depositary Receipts involve risks similar to those associated with investments in foreign securities, but may not provide a return that corresponds precisely with that of the underlying shares. Please see the prospectus for details of these and other risks.

Shares are bought and sold at market price not net asset value (NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

Roundhill Financial Inc serves as the investment advisor. The Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC which is not affiliated with Roundhill Financial Inc, U.S. Bank or any of their affiliates.

SOURCE Roundhill Investments