As with any data aggregator strategy, the outcome is only as good as the data input. And in this case, risks of manipulation come into play. “We mitigate people trying to gain influence over a stock price or manipulate the stock price—so called bad actors—by focusing on large-cap U.S. equities which are highly liquid, actively traded and have a large and diverse flow of natural conversation and data around them," Wise says. "It would be harder for a bad actor to have an impact.”
Since its inception in April 2016, BUZ has amassed just $9 million in assets as the concept of monetizing social media data takes root. The fund is up more than 17 percent year-to-date, surpassing the broader market but much less so than the Global X Social Media ETF.
Social media has moved from a niche market to infiltrating our lives. It is only natural that investors capitalize on this massive cultural change, one that shows no signs of abating. Whether investing in the companies that operate the networks or the data the networks produce, it appears the buzz around social media is positive.