An Illinois and South Florida duo are teaming up again, this time to offer a companion to a four-year-old fund.

Michael Norman "Mike" Loukas TrueMark Investments, LLC Principal, CEO

On Friday (December 27), Michael Loukas, principal and CEO of TrueMark Investments, LLC [profile], and Austin Graff, founder and chief investment officer of Opal Capital LLC, unveiled the launch of the Opal International Dividend Income ETF (IDVZ on the Cboe BZX). IDVZ follows another TrueShares fund, the Opal Dividend Income ETF (DIVZ on the NYSE Arca) (which debuted in January 2021 as the TrueShares Low Volatility Equity Income ETF).

IDVZ, like DIVZ, uses Chicago-based TrueMark as its investment advisor and Boca Raton, Florida-based Opal as its subadvisor, with Graff as portfolio manager. Both ETFs use actively managed, concentrated strategies that focus on dividend-paying, large-cap equities; IDVZ invests in international stocks, while DIVZ invests in domestic stocks.

The expense ratio for IDVZ is 75 basis points (10bps more than for DIVZ). IDVZ's inception date was Thursday (December 26), and its listing date was Friday. It ended Friday with about $496,000 in AUM. (DIVZ has about $134 million, as of December 27. TrueMark overall had more than $761 million in AUM, as of November 30.)

Loukas calls IDVZ "a national extension of the proven investment acument Opal has consistently displayed in managing DIVZ."

"Opal's approach is a great example of the type of institutional quality portfolio management philosophy that is fueling the proliferation of actively managed ETFs and we're proud to once again partner with them to deliver the type of exposure to international dividend paying equities that should find a broad audience across the investment marketplace," Loukas states.

Graff notes that "dividend investing is not a one-size-fits-all discipline, nor does it lend itself to passive approaches."

"Instead, it takes a research-driven approach to identify quality companies with strong fundamentals, significant cash flow, stable revenue streams and a commitment to providing shareholders with attractive dividends," Graff states. "With IDVZ, as we have with DIVZ, we're very pleased to be providing investors with a concentrated portfolio designed to play a significant role in delivering opportunities for both growth and income."

IDVZ is a series of Elevation Series Trust (unlike DIVZ, which is a series of Listed Funds Trust). IDVZ's other service providers include: Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; Paralel Distributors LLC as distributor and principal underwriter; Paralel Technologies LLC as administrator and fund accountant; State Street Bank and Trust Company as custodian and transfer agent; and Thompson Hine LLP as counsel. 

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