KNO vs TRFM

KNOCAXS Knowledge Leaders ETF

TRFMAAAM Transformers ETF

In short

KNO Most innovation ETFs buy US tech stories. KNO rebuilds the books instead, treating R&D, brand and training spend as investment, then buying the developed-market companies that rank highest on that knowledge capital.

TRFM Most disruption funds buy the story. TRFM screens for companies actually writing R&D checks, then spreads the theme across a couple hundred US-listed names instead of a concentrated bet on thirty.

Stated mandate

KNO The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equities of highly innovative knowledge-leader companies. It uses a proprietary quantitative screen emphasizing intangible-adjusted innovation intensity, financial strength, profitability, research and development, earnings growth, and operating cash flow.

TRFM The Fund passively tracks the total return of the Pence Transformers Index before fees and expenses. The index targets U.S.-listed equity securities of companies positioned to benefit from significant changes in consumer behavior and technological innovation.

Why people hold it

• KNO The mechanism is the point: spending on R&D, advertising, brand and employee training is treated as capital, not expense, surfacing innovators the usual tech screens miss.axsinvestments.com
• All-sector and global by design, spanning North America, Europe and Asia, which is unusual in a category that leans heavily on US technology names.axsinvestments.com
• Innovation is not the only test. The screen also weighs profitability, financial strength, earnings growth and operating cash flow.
• Live since 2015 under its original Knowledge Leaders name before AXS took it over in 2024, so this is a long-running approach, not a freshly minted theme.prnewswire.com

• TRFM Candidates are screened on research-and-development spending, so names earn a slot with budget receipts, not just a narrative.nasdaq.com
• 0.49% a year, below the typical fee in its disruptive-innovation cohort, and it follows a published index rather than a manager's hunches.
• Modified equal weighting across a couple hundred holdings keeps any single mega-cap from quietly becoming the whole theme.stockanalysis.com
• Sits among the strongest implementations in its disruptive-innovation peer group on our review.

Worth knowing

• KNO The 0.75% fee sits above the category median across the 31 innovation funds we track, and above peers like KOMP at 0.20% and XT at 0.46%.
• Among the smaller and more lightly traded funds in its group, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads and more price impact on bigger orders.
• Actively managed on a proprietary screen and measured against a broad equal-weighted world index, so the portfolio can look nothing like a US tech fund.sec.gov

• TRFM Not the cheapest door into the theme. Broader innovation rivals such as KOMP carry a lower expense ratio.
• Trades thinly next to the category's giants, so the bid-ask spread can matter more to your cost than the fee does.
• Launched in 2022, so the track record is short, and the index stays US-listed (ADRs count) rather than buying foreign shares directly.stockanalysis.com

Full KNO profile⁠

Full TRFM profile⁠