Avory & Co. Bets on Conviction Over Trends With New AVRY ETF

MIAMI, FL – March 30, 2026 – In a market saturated with thematic and index-tracking funds, Miami-based investment firm Avory & Co. is making a decidedly different bet with the launch of the Avory Foundational ETF (ticker: AVRY). The new fund, which began trading today, is an actively managed, concentrated portfolio designed to be a core equity holding, deliberately steering clear of short-term market narratives and trend-chasing.

AVRY represents a focused push into the public markets for Avory & Co., a firm founded in 2016 by Chief Investment Officer Sean Emory. The strategy is built on a high-conviction approach, allocating capital based on fundamental analysis and valuation rather than mirroring an index. The fund is expected to hold a concentrated portfolio of approximately 20 to 30 companies that the firm believes are foundational to their industries and positioned for long-term growth.

“We built AVRY to be a true core holding,” said Sean Emory in the official announcement. “The strategy focuses on businesses that are foundational to their industries and allows us to remain flexible and valuation-aware across market cycles. We are not chasing stories. That distinction matters in today’s ETF landscape where too many investment products optimize for activity rather than durability.”

Decoding the '6 M's' Framework

At the heart of AVRY's investment process is Avory & Co.'s proprietary '6 M’s framework,' a disciplined methodology for evaluating potential investments. This framework is designed to ensure a consistent and repeatable process, focused on identifying high-quality businesses. The six pillars of the analysis are:

• Management Quality: Assessing the leadership team's competence, integrity, and alignment with shareholders.
• Market Growth: Identifying industries with large, expanding addressable markets.
• Market Share Growth: Seeking companies that are capturing a growing piece of their respective markets.
• Margin Expansion: Focusing on businesses with the potential to improve profitability over time.
• Multiple Expansion: Evaluating the potential for the company's valuation multiple to increase as its quality becomes recognized by the market.
• Margin of Safety: A disciplined valuation approach to ensure an attractive entry point relative to a company's intrinsic worth.

This future-focused, but not thematic, approach leads the firm to categorize its targets into two main groups: "Secular Winners," which are businesses central to long-term trends like AI, cloud infrastructure, and fintech, and "Transitional Compounders," which are established businesses successfully adapting to these future trends. The fund's initial holdings reflect this philosophy, including names like Block Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and Amazon.com Inc., among others.

Riding the Active ETF Wave

The launch of AVRY comes amid a period of explosive growth for actively managed ETFs. Once a niche corner of the market, active ETFs have seen a surge in popularity, driven by regulatory changes, investor demand for strategies that can outperform benchmarks, and a migration of assets from traditional active mutual funds. In 2025 alone, active strategies accounted for 36% of all ETF inflows, with total assets in the category surpassing $1.68 trillion by early 2026.

Financial advisors have been key drivers of this trend. A 2025 industry report indicated that 80% of advisors now use active ETFs, with many citing them as important "core building blocks" for client portfolios, particularly in U.S. equities. The structure offers the potential for alpha generation and professional oversight, combined with the tax efficiency and intraday trading benefits of the ETF wrapper.

By launching AVRY, Avory & Co. is tapping into this clear market demand for differentiated, professionally managed investment vehicles. The firm has also committed to a high degree of transparency, promising regular investor communications, including weekly strategy updates that explain portfolio positioning in the context of its framework.

Navigating a Crowded and Costly Market

Despite the tailwinds, AVRY enters a competitive and challenging landscape. The fund carries an expense ratio of 0.89%, which is significantly higher than the average for its Large Blend category. This cost has earned it a high-expense grade from some industry analysts, placing the onus on the management team to deliver performance that justifies the premium fee.

Furthermore, the fund's prospectus highlights several key risks. As a new fund, AVRY has no operating history or track record on which investors can base a decision. The prospectus also notes that the sub-adviser, Avory & Co., has no prior experience managing an ETF, which it acknowledges may limit its effectiveness. This lack of a public track record in the ETF format means early investors are betting on the strength of Sean Emory's past experience at firms like GFG Capital and the rigor of the '6 M's' framework.

To bring the fund to market, Avory & Co. has partnered with established service providers. Empowered Funds, LLC, operating as ETF Architect, serves as the investment adviser, while PINE Distributors LLC handles distribution. This common industry structure allows investment boutiques to launch ETFs without building the entire operational infrastructure from scratch. For investors, the success of AVRY will ultimately depend on whether this disciplined, high-conviction approach can justify its costs and deliver on its promise of durable growth in an unpredictable market.