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Trump Media’s plan to launch investment products including exchange traded funds focused on the “patriot economy” could put it head to head with Strive, the asset manager founded by Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump Media announced its expansion into financial services last week, contracting with Charles Schwab and hedge fund firm Yorkville Advisors to develop ETFs and separately managed accounts.
It said it would allocate up to $250mn for the venture, named Truth.Fi, to be custodied by Schwab.
In addition to “traditional investment vehicles”, Truth.Fi is contemplating rollouts including ETFs, separately managed accounts (SMAs) and crypto-related securities, hewing to investment themes related to “American growth, manufacturing and energy companies as well as investments that strengthen the patriot economy,” according to the announcement.
Founded in 2021, Trump Media is majority-owned by President Donald Trump, who placed his ownership shares into a trust controlled by his son Donald Trump Jr after the November election.
The company went public last year through a special purpose acquisition company merger, and to date its business lines consist of the social media platform Truth Social and video streaming platform Truth+.
“Truth.Fi is a natural expansion of the Truth Social movement,” said Trump Media chief executive and chair Devin Nunes in the announcement. “Developing ‘American first’ investment vehicles is another step toward our goal of creating a robust ecosystem through which American patriots can protect themselves from the ever-present threat of cancellation, censorship, debanking and privacy violations committed by Big Tech and woke corporations.”
Schwab will assist in any SMA rollout as well as “broadly advise” on investments and strategy. An unnamed affiliate of Mountainside, New Jersey-based Yorkville, meanwhile, will serve as registered investment adviser for any other investment products.
Multiple product launches are anticipated sometime this year, “as new agreements are consummated, funding levels are determined and any necessary approvals by financial regulators are secured”.
Such rollouts could compete directly with Strive, which Ramaswamy co-founded and majority-owns. Strive vows on its website to “always prioritise the shareholder over other stakeholders” in a declaration that argues that shareholder capitalism has been “at risk” in America.
A vocal supporter of Trump’s, Ramaswamy was appointed to help run the new Department of Government Efficiency under the president but resigned shortly after the inauguration.
Schwab funds are a marginal investor in Trump Media, holding a 0.25 per cent ownership position. A raft of major fund firms also own stakes, including Vanguard, BlackRock and Fidelity’s Geode Capital.
*Ignites is a news service published by FT Specialist for professionals working in the asset management industry. Trials and subscriptions are available at ignites.com.
