PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hennion & Walsh has plans to bring a new Unit Investment Trust (UIT) strategy to market that is focused on the technology revolution within its proprietary SmartTrust® UIT business.

The strategy, which has an anticipated deposit date in May 2018, will seek total return potential through capital appreciation and dividend income by investing in a portfolio consisting of equity securities of companies engaged in technologies believed to be "revolutionary". For these purposes, Hennion & Walsh defines companies engaged in revolutionary technologies to be companies that are principally engaged in, or that derive significant revenues from, businesses in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cybersecurity, financial technology (FinTech), internet of things (IoT) and robotics.

"Technology continues to change the way we interact in society on both a social and economic front," said Kevin Mahn, Chief Investment Officer at SmartTrust®. "However, there are certain technologies that we have identified that have the ability to ultimately transform the bottom line of those companies, across multiple industries, which embrace them by transforming the way in which they operate." To help with the identification of these companies, Hennion & Walsh will start with the securities in the S-Network North American Disruptor Index as of the security selection date and then apply their own selection criteria to arrive at a final portfolio, which will be approximately equally weighted as of the trust's inception and will vary thereafter. Selection criteria that will be considered include, but will not be limited to, the following:
  • market capitalizations;
  • cash flow (through trailing twelve month free cash flow balances);
  • revenues (through revenue per share and revenue growth);
  • earnings (through earnings per share growth);
  • profits (through gross profits and profit margins);
  • valuations (through current and forward price/earnings, price/book and current and forward looking price/earnings growth ratios);
  • dividends (through dividend yield and dividend growth rates);
  • analyst coverage and analyst ratings; and
  • average trading volumes.
"The Technology Revolution Trust is another example of an innovative, theme-based strategy that we developed here at SmartTrust® to provide an investment solution for a growing and popular area in the market," said Bill Walsh, President of Hennion & Walsh. "Over the longer term, we believe that the new technology revolution will ultimately transform economies, jobs, and society overall," added Richard Hennion, Partner of Hennion & Walsh.