The premise: Women who make it all the way to the top can give their companies an edge in hyper-competitive Corporate America.

Hypatia Capital Management boasts of a network of CEO-Level women, asset managers, and public board members that form its collaborative platform. The firm has formulated the Hypatia Women CEO Index (HWCEO), which is designed to measure the performance of female leadership in publicly traded companies. Hypatia has filed with the SEC for the launch of the Hypatia Women CEO ETF (ticker WCEO). (Bloomberg via Financial Advisor)

Hypatia Women CEO ETF (WCEO)

The new fund will invest in companies that have women as their CEO or whose boards are led by executive chairwomen. It is believed that women who have made it to these levels in corporate America would provide exceptional leadership, and therefore a competitive edge, to the companies under their stewardship.

These women exhibit “extraordinary leadership characteristics” that would reflect in the company’s performance.

Expected to launch in early January, the ETF would charge 0.75% fees.

Hypatia has also launched the Hypatia Women Fund Managers I (HWFM), a proactive solution for qualified investors to invest directly in women hedge fund managers who meet certain rules-based criteria.

Accordingly, Hypatia created the Hypatia Women Hedge Fund Index (HWIX) – Powered by Wilshire as both a way to measure female hedge fund performance, as well as an allocation mechanism for the HWFM.

“We’re building on the shoulders of a lot of work that’s already been done and we’re super grateful for it,” said Patricia Lizarraga, Hypatia’s founder and the portfolio manager for WCEO. “But we think this is a real pure play in the market.”

Lizarraga has also personally invested in the $209.2 million SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (NYSEARCA: SHE), and the $31.7 million Impact Shares YWCA Women’s Empowerment ETF (NYSEARCA: WOMN).

However, the SHE and WOMN ETFs are down 23.41% and 21.81% YTD respectively. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index has lost 21.62% in that period.

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