AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF

AXS Esoterica NextG Economy ETF (WUGI) is an actively managed fund. Its manager picks about 30 stocks tied to the 5G-enabled digital economy, led by chip companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor and Micron. It is small and concentrated, with net assets of about $36 million as of June 30, 2026. Its 0.84% expense ratio is roughly double the 0.41% average of funds with similar holdings.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, WUGI returned +8.6%, 4th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +10.8%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-49.5%); its best was 2023 (+61.3%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 56.4% (Nov 16, 2021 to Nov 9, 2022), recovered by Jun 13, 2024.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 31 securities; the ten largest made up 55.68% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $1.8M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +19.83%, +12.14%, +9.23%.

WUGI does not track an index. The fund, from AXS Investments, uses a sub-advisor, Esoterica Capital LLC, to pick its stocks. Under normal conditions it puts at least 80% of its net assets in US and foreign companies tied to the 5G-enabled digital economy. That means firms that make 5G technology and firms that may gain from it, such as online retailers. At least 25% must be in internet, computer, semiconductor and software companies. It can own companies of any size in developed and emerging markets, including through American Depositary Receipts (US-traded certificates for foreign shares). It may hold up to 20% in cash.

Esoterica sorts candidates into three groups. The first is infrastructure, such as network equipment and cloud computing. The second is edge devices, meaning phones and key parts such as baseband processors. The third is services that 5G makes possible, such as video streaming, cloud gaming and self-driving cars. Esoterica then checks valuation and business fundamentals and buys its highest-conviction ideas. The prospectus sets no fixed weighting formula or rebalancing schedule. Position sizes reflect the manager's judgment.

The fund is “non-diversified,” which means it can put larger amounts in fewer companies. As of June 30, 2026, it owned 31 stocks, the top 10 made up 55.7% of assets, and it held no derivatives. Portfolio turnover, a measure of how much it trades, was 48%.

• WUGI charges 0.84% a year, versus an average of 0.41% for the similar funds below (9th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.75% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• The fee includes a 0.62% waiver from the adviser, which may end.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $86 in the first year and $1,693 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

WUGI is a concentrated, actively picked bet on chip and internet stocks that has swung about twice as much as the broad market.

WUGI could be a small, higher-risk add-on to a diversified stock portfolio. It swings far more than the broad market. Its one-year beta, a measure of how much it moves with the market, was 2.03 as of Oct. 27, 2026. That means it tended to move about twice as much as the market. It launched after the 2008 crisis and the 2020 crash, so neither is in its record. It fell 48.6% in the 2022 bear market. Its deepest drop, 56.4% from November 2021 to November 2022, took about 19 months to recover. Selling shares or drawing cash in a year like that would lock in large losses.

It pays out once a year. Its 20.16% trailing yield as of Oct. 27, 2026, reflects one payout that may not repeat. Under the SEC's standard example, $10,000 would cost about $86 in fees in the first year. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.