New York-based Astoria Advisors has introduced an actively managed ETF providing smart beta exposure to stocks of high-quality US companies.

The ETF provides exposure to US equities of high-quality companies.

The Astoria US Quality Kings ETF (ROE US) has been listed on Nasdaq with an expense ratio of 0.49%.

According to Astoria, which has utilized the quality factor to power its core equity exposure in the firm’s ETF model portfolios since 2017, high-quality companies are typically profitable, financially robust, and able to persist through varying economic cycles.

In managing the ETF, Astoria selects constituents from an initial universe consisting of US-listed stocks with market capitalizations above $5 million.

Astoria utilizes proprietary quantitative screens to rank each company in the universe according to quality, valuation, dividend potential, and growth metrics relative to the median of that stock’s sector.

A weighted average rank across each factor is then calculated and the top 50 to 100 ranked stocks are selected for inclusion into the portfolio. The actual number of stocks selected will vary based on Astoria’s decision to overweight or underweight certain sectors based on the overall market and macroeconomic conditions.

The fund allocates equal weights to its constituents in a bid to mitigate the potential issues associated with market cap-weighted indices.

According to Astoria, the ETF may be used as a component of core US large and mid-cap equity exposure or growth-oriented strategies.