Two New ETFs Pitch Investors on Avoiding Elon Musk

Two new exchange-traded funds are giving investors a way to avoid one of the most visible figures in technology and business: Elon Musk.

The funds explicitly exclude companies that are founded, controlled or led by Musk, according to their stated approach. That means Tesla, the electric vehicle maker where Musk is chief executive, is outside the portfolios. SpaceX, the private rocket and satellite company he founded and leads, is also excluded under the same standard.

The strategy reflects a growing effort by fund issuers to turn investor preferences into narrowly tailored products. ETFs have long been used to track broad indexes such as the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100. Increasingly, they also are being designed around values, political themes, environmental goals, industry exposure or personal views about corporate leadership.

A targeted screen in a crowded ETF market

For investors, the appeal is straightforward. Musk’s businesses are among the best-known companies in the world, and Tesla has been a major holding in many growth and technology-oriented portfolios. But Musk’s public profile, political statements and management style have also made him a polarizing figure. Some investors may want exposure to technology or innovation without owning companies closely tied to him.

The new funds appear to lean into that demand by making the exclusion clear at the product level. Rather than requiring investors to review holdings and remove certain stocks themselves, the ETF structure packages the screen into a single tradable fund.

The approach also highlights the limits of passive investing for people who want more control over what they own. Many broad-market ETFs include Tesla because of its size and index membership. Avoiding a specific company can be difficult if an investor relies only on standard index funds. A fund that excludes Musk-linked companies offers a more direct option, though it may also create performance differences from the indexes investors are used to tracking.

Investor choice comes with trade-offs

Excluding Tesla could matter because the stock has often moved sharply and has played an outsized role in some market benchmarks. If Tesla rises faster than the broader market, a fund that excludes it could lag comparable funds that include it. If Tesla underperforms, the exclusion could help. As with any ETF, results will depend on the full portfolio, fees, trading costs and the rules used to select holdings.

The mention of SpaceX is also notable, even though the company remains privately held and is not available to most public-market investors through ordinary stock purchases. Its exclusion signals that the rule is intended to apply broadly to Musk-linked businesses, not only to companies currently listed on exchanges.

The launch underscores how ETF issuers are competing in an increasingly crowded market by offering products that speak to specific investor concerns. In this case, the message is unusually direct: investors who do not want to back companies associated with Musk now have funds built around that preference.