ESPO vs GAMR

ESPOBVanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF

GAMRCAmplify Video Game Leaders ETF

In short

ESPO Video games, straight up. ESPO tracks a global index of game developers, esports companies and the hardware and software behind them, in a concentrated basket of roughly 30 names, running since 2018.

GAMR Not just the studios. GAMR runs across the whole video game chain, from publishers and mobile titles to GPUs, headsets and controllers, listed anywhere in the world, and has been doing it since 2016.

Stated mandate

ESPO The ETF seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Video Gaming and eSports Index. The index covers companies involved in video game development, esports, and related hardware and software.

GAMR Seeks returns that generally track the VettaFi Video Game Leaders Index before fees and expenses. It provides exposure to global companies across the video-game value chain, including development, publishing, mobile and online games, GPUs, software, hardware, peripherals, and the metaverse.

Why people hold it

• ESPO A tight read on the theme: the index covers video game development, esports, and related hardware and software, so the basket stays near the console and the code instead of drifting into general entertainment.vaneck.com
• Global mandate. Gaming's biggest publishers are listed all over the world, and ESPO's index is built to reach them rather than stopping at US-listed names.vaneck.com
• Priced at 0.55%, right at the middle of the gaming and esports ETF group, and one of the stronger overall implementations among its peers.
• Launched in 2018, making it one of the elder statesmen of gaming ETFs, with a few hundred million dollars of assets behind it.

• GAMR Whole value chain in one ticker: development, publishing, mobile and online games, GPUs, software, hardware, peripherals and the metaverse.amplifyetfs.com
• Global by mandate, so game makers listed outside the US are in scope rather than an afterthought.amplifyetfs.com
• Rules-based: it tracks the VettaFi Video Game Leaders Index, so the lineup follows a published methodology instead of a manager's hunch.amplifyetfs.com
• Trading since March 2016, so its record spans more than one gaming cycle.

Worth knowing

• ESPO Roughly 30 holdings. One publisher's flopped launch or blowout quarter lands harder here than it would in a broad index.
• Not the cheapest seat in the arcade: HERO and NERD both charge 0.50% for their own takes on gaming.
• Trades lighter than mainstream index funds, so spreads can widen in fast markets. Distributions come once or twice a year, not monthly.

• GAMR 0.59% a year, above the gaming-ETF median and above HERO at 0.50% and ESPO at 0.55%.
• A small fund that trades thinly, so limit orders and a glance at the spread carry more weight here than with the category's larger names.
• One theme, and a hit-driven one: publishers, chip designers and hardware makers can swing together. Cash comes back once or twice a year at most, not monthly.

Full ESPO profile⁠

Full GAMR profile⁠