29.03.2024

How to know if you own gun stocks without knowing it

Given the current concern over owning gun-manufacturer stocks in the aftermath of the latest high-school shooting in Parkland, Florida, we did a bit of digging and found 46 ETFs that include one or more of the three publicly traded gun manufacturers: American Outdoor Brands (AOBC), Vista Outdoor (VSTO), and Sturm Ruger (RGR)-the latter of which makes the AR-15 rifles that have been in the news (paywall).

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a fantastic tool because they give investors exposure to many securities at once.

But one downside is that you may not know what individual stocks you own within the funds unless you do some research.

The most likely way that you might own a gun-manufacturer stock is through a fund that tracks a broad market index, like the Russell 2000 or S&P 600 indexes.

The full list of ETFs, as sourced from ETF Database and ETF Channel, is below:

First Trust Long/Short Equity Fund FTLS
First Trust Multi Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund FAD
First Trust Multi Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund FAB
First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund FYX
First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund FYC
First Trust Small Cap US Equity Select ETF RNSC
First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund FYT
First Trust Total US Market Alpha DEX ETF TUSA
Guggenheim S&P 600 SmallCap Pure Value RZV
Guggenheim S&P Small Cap 600 Equal Weight ETF EWSC
iShares core S&P SmallCap ETF IJR
iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF ITOT
iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA SmallCap ETF SMMV
iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor USA SmallCap ETF SMLF
iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM
iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF IWO
iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF IWN
iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Growth ETF IJT
iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Value ETF IJS
iShares US Aerospace & Defense ETF ITA
PowerShares Buyback Achievers PKW
PowerShares FTSE RAFI 1500 Sm-Md PRFZ
PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1000 PRF
PowerShares PureBeta MSCI USA Small Cap Portfolio PBSM
PowerShares Russell 2000 Equal Weight Portfolio ETF EQWS
PowerShares S&P SmallCap Quality Portfolio XSHQ
SPDR Portfolio Small Cap ETF SPSM
SPDR S&P 1000 ETF SPMD
SPDR S&P 1500 Value Tilt ETF VLU
SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap ETF SLY
SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF SLYG
SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF SLYV
VanEck Vectors Global Spin-Off ETF SPUN
Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF VCR
Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF VTWO
Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth ETF VTWG
Vanguard Russell 2000 Value ETF VTWV
Vanguard S&P SmallCap 600 Growth ETF VIOG
Vanguard S&P SmallCap 600 Value ETF VIOV
Vanguard Small Cap ETF VB
Vanguard Small Cap Growth ETF VBK
Vanguard Small Cap Value ETF VBR
WisdoemTree US SmallCap Dividend Growth Fund DGRS
WisdomTree US SmallCap Dividend ETF DES
WisdomTree US SmallCap Earnings ETF EES
WisdomTree US Total Earnings ETF EXT

What should you do if you want to avoid gun-manufacturer stocks? One option is to consider a fund that tracks a “socially responsible” index like the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index, which tracks 400 US securities that meet certain environmental, social, and governance criteria. It has either beaten or kept track with both the Russell 2000 and S&P 600 indexes over the past one- and five-year periods.

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