Portfolio Adjustments & the Peculiar Case of COWG

by

A Modest Pruning

One observes, with a degree of detached amusement, the periodic reshuffling of portfolios. CMC Financial Group, a firm not entirely unfamiliar with the vagaries of the market, has recently reduced its stake in the Pacer U.S. Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF – a name, one can’t help but feel, designed to induce a gentle torpor. The transaction, amounting to some $6.30 million, suggests a discreet repositioning, rather than a wholesale flight from equity. One suspects a quiet calculation of risk, or perhaps merely a desire to diversify into something marginally less… bovine.

The Shape of Things

Currently, this particular ETF constitutes 1.22% of CMC’s 13F reportable assets – a figure which, while hardly negligible, suggests it was never quite the family silver. Their present holdings, as one might anticipate, are predictably sensible: NYSEMKT:TCAL at $8.86 million (15.8% of AUM), followed by NYSEMKT:SILJ at $5.11 million (9.1% of AUM). The COWG itself, and its cousin COWZ at $5.02 million (9.0% of AUM), are present, but no longer at the very apex of the pyramid. NYSEMKT:GRNY, at $4.50 million (8.0% of AUM), completes the rather conventional picture.

A Brief Technical Note

Metric Value
Price (as of Jan. 31, 2026) $35.32
Dividend yield 0.32%
1-year total return 5.12%

The Herd Instinct

The Pacer U.S. Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF (COWG), for the uninitiated, offers exposure to large-cap U.S. equities, selecting companies exhibiting, as the name implies, a certain… robustness. One pictures contented cattle grazing in a sun-drenched pasture. It is, in essence, a perfectly respectable, if somewhat predictable, investment.

A Matter of Proportions

While COWG has fallen from CMC’s top ten holdings, they retain a fondness for ETFs of this stripe, maintaining positions in both COWG and COWZ. The latter, one notes, leans more heavily towards healthcare and energy, while COWG favors technology. A subtle distinction, perhaps, but one which, in the current climate, might prove significant. The GRNY ETF, with its more concentrated portfolio of 41 stocks, represents a further, slightly bolder, inclination.

One must, of course, acknowledge the inherent dangers of concentration. A smaller portfolio, while potentially more dynamic, is also more vulnerable to the whims of a single, errant company. In GRNY’s case, a downturn in the technology sector could have a disproportionately negative impact. It is a risk, certainly, but one which, in the pursuit of a slightly more vigorous return, some investors are willing to embrace. The market, after all, rarely rewards timidity.

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2026-02-01 03:43