Brian Belski says his new HIS ETF is a concentrated, large-cap U.S. stock portfolio designed to beat the S&P 500 using his long-running top-down process.
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In this CNBC segment, Brian Belski explains the launch of HIS, a new ETF tied to Humilis/Cumulus Investment Strategies. He says the product is based on a portfolio model he has run for nearly a decade across prior firms, and it uses a top-down process that combines valuation, earnings growth, operating performance, and technicals to select roughly 45–50 stocks. The portfolio is meant to be diversified by sector, but not equally weighted; it is intentionally concentrated in the sectors and names he believes have the strongest fundamentals. Belski emphasizes that the ETF is built to outperform the S&P 500 and that it is heavily tilted toward large-cap U.S. stocks such as Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Visa, Walmart, Marriott, and others. …
Tactically, this is a bullish active-large-cap equity setup: the ETF is positioned to benefit if broad leadership expands beyond the narrow mega-cap trade. Near term, the main risk is that the market keeps rewarding the Mag 7 while a more selective portfolio lags.
Over the next few months, the fund’s results should reveal whether Belski’s top-down stock selection can outpace the index in a market that still may be dominated by a small set of large winners. Confirmation would come from durable relative strength versus the S&P 500, especially if sector breadth improves.
The long-run thesis is that active, concentrated U.S. equity selection still has room to win even in a benchmark-heavy market. If that holds, products like HIS are a way to package strategist research into a repeatable active management franchise.
HIS is a new ETF launched by Brian Belski's firm.
He explicitly says they secured the ticker six months ago and launched the product.
The ETF is built to beat the S&P 500 using a concentrated 45-50 stock portfolio.
Belski says the portfolio is 45 to 50 stocks and is meant to beat the benchmark.
The portfolio uses a top-down process based on valuation, earnings growth, operating performance, and technicals.
He describes his screening framework in direct terms.
What is HIS and what is it about?
Belski says the ETF comes from his new firm, has been in development for months, and is built around a concentrated stock-picking model aimed at outperforming the S&P 500.
Does the portfolio have to hold at least one stock from every sector by design?
He says typically yes, because the fund is designed to be diversified, though it can still be underweight or omit sectors when he does not want exposure.
Why choose certain names like Marriott, Delta, or Costco over their peers?
Belski says selections reflect his preference for company quality, brand, operating execution, and fit within the sector, and that some sector weights are skewed by mega-cap names.
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