New psychedelics ETF coming from Horizons

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. announced on Friday that it’s launching the “world’s first” psychedelics-focused ETF.

The Horizons Psychedelic Stock Index ETF (PSYK) will begin trading on the NEO Exchange on Jan. 27, according to a release.

The fund will seek to replicate the performance of a proprietary index of publicly listed companies that have significant business activities in or exposure to the psychedelics industry.

The release noted that growing clinical research into the use of psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin and ketamine has opened the door to new opportunities among life science and pharmaceutical companies.

“This has resulted in a growing number of public companies listed in North America that are focused on the development of therapeutic solutions using psychedelics, which now provides the breadth of portfolio necessary for an ETF,” the release stated.

Steve Hawkins, president and CEO of Horizons, said in the release that recent policy changes in Canada and the U.S. have allowed for increased research into the therapeutic properties of psychedelic compounds as treatment options for mental illness, depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“PSYK will give investors exposure to the leading public companies undertaking this important research and development of treatments for the more than 700 million people globally that, according to the World Health Organization, suffer from some sort of mental illness, addiction or eating disorder,” Hawkins said.

Solactive AG will act as the independent calculation agent for the fund’s proprietary index.

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