A marijuana exchange-traded fund – billed as the world’s first – began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the latest sign the cannabis industry is becoming more of a mainstream sector.
The newly launched Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF packages the stocks of 14 marijuana-related businesses into one security, CBC News reported. The Canadian unit of Horizons ETFs Management oversees the ETF, which trades under the ticker symbol HMMJ on the Toronto exchange.
Ten of the ETF’s 14 stocks are based in Canada. Most of the Canadian companies are federally licensed medical marijuana producers, according to CBC News.
Three of the other stocks are pharmaceutical companies headquartered outside of Canada, including UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals. The other stock belongs to the iconic U.S. lawn and garden company Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., which has invested tens of millions of dollars in marijuana-related businesses.
At least one more cannabis-focused ETF is slated to launch. In February, New Jersey-based ETF Managers Group filed plans with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to offer an ETF that also would track publicly traded cannabis companies.
