COMMENTARY
Volatility and uncertainty arrived in full force in March driven by uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policies, particularly tariff announcements. Concerns over potential trade wars and their economic fallout led to a sharp sell-off in equities with fears of slower growth and rising inflation dampening investor sentiment. Volatility (VIX) nearly hit 30 and the S&P 500 entered a correction – the first one since 2022 – as economic data, including softening consumer sentiment and revised lower GDP growth forecasts, added to recession worries. Despite some positive economic indicators, like strong job growth, markets remained on edge, with global trade tensions and policy uncertainty overshadowing fundamentals. As the month closed-out, equities rallied off the lows, cautiously optimistic about the road ahead but clearly still on edge.
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OVERALL MORNINGSTAR™ RATING |
The broad-based volatility in the markets resulted in 9 of the 11 GICS sectors finishing the month in the red, however as mentioned last month, the hallmarks of DIVO tend to shine brightest when the broader equity markets experience some turbulence. During March, DIVO returned -2.40% while the benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, returned -5.63% and the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM) returned -4.65%. Through the first quarter of 2025, DIVO has returned 1.98% while the S&P 500 returned -4.27%. The biggest positive contributions to returns from a sector perspective in March were Health Care (+7.36%), Materials (+10.61%) and Utilities (+3.81%).1 Financials (-5.17%) contributed the least to the return followed by Consumer Staples (-1.61%). Positions that contributed most significantly included Apple (AAPL), UnitedHealth (UNH) and CME Group (CME) while Goldman Sachs (GS) and American Express (AXP) were among the biggest detractors. Shares of UnitedHealth continue to be volatile but, as mentioned above, were a significant contributor to returns in March.
The Fund (DIVO) maintains an overweight in Financials and underweight in Information Technology compared to the S&P 500, though the recent inclusion of Salesforce (CRM) last month helped reduced the Information Technology underweight. Despite the Financials overweight, strong security selection enabled DIVO’s Financials holdings to nearly match S&P 500 performance, mitigating risk. During March, no new positions were added, but existing holdings like Salesforce (CRM), JPMorgan (JPM), and Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) were increased, while Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) was fully called away and Amgen (AMGN) partially called.
From an option standpoint the increase in volatility created an opportunity to be more active in call writing with new calls sold during the month on American Express (AXP), CME Group (CME), Home Depot (HD), Honeywell (HON), Procter & Gamble (PG) and TJX Companies (TJX).
At the end of the month, the portfolio held a total of five covered calls2 and approximately 12% of the portfolio was covered.
The performance data quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. For most recent month-end performance, visit DIVOETF.com.
| Distribution Frequency: Monthly |
Distribution Rate: 4.85% |
30-Day SEC Yield: 1.77% |
Distribution Rate is the normalized current distribution (annualized) over NAV per share. Distributions have been classified as a return of capital and may be comprised of option premiums, dividends, capital gains, and interest payments. As of the most recent distribution, 67% was estimated to be return of capital. See Form 19(a)-1. There is no guarantee the ETF will pay a distribution. 30-Day SEC Yield is a standard yield calculation developed by the Securities and Exchange Commission that allows for fairer comparisons among bond funds. It is based on the most recent month end. This figure reflects the income earned from dividends – excluding option income – during the period after deducting the Fund’s expenses for the period.
Fund inception date: 12/14/2016. DIVO’s gross expense ratio is 0.56%. The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Short-term performance, in particular, is not a good indication of the fund’s future performance, and an investment should not be made based solely on returns. For performance data current to the most recent month-end please visit AmplifyETFs.com/DIVO. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. NAV is the sum of all its assets less any liabilities, divided by the number of shares outstanding. The closing price is the last price at which the fund traded.
| Sector | % Weight |
| Financials | 27.45% |
| Information Technology | 17.13% |
| Industrials | 14.54% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 13.12% |
| Health Care | 8.09% |
| Communication Services | 6.71% |
| Consumer Staples | 4.48% |
| Energy | 3.72% |
| Utilities | 2.51% |
| Materials | 2.25% |
TOP 10 HOLDINGS
| Ticker | Name | % Weight |
| V | Visa | 5.22% |
| CME | CME Group | 5.15% |
| CAT | Caterpillar | 5.00% |
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase | 4.92% |
| HON | Honeywell International | 4.91% |
| MSFT | Microsoft | 4.79% |
| GS | Goldman Sachs | 4.76% |
| AXP | American Express | 4.75% |
| HD | Home Depot | 4.65% |
| IBM | International Business Machines | 4.62% |
All data as of 3/31/2025. Subject to change at any time. Fund holdings should not be considered recommendations to buy or sell any security. View Current Complete Holdings.
Index Definitions: All indexes are unmanaged and it’s not possible to invest directly in an index. S&P 500 Total Return Index—market-capitalization-weighted index of the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies by market value, and assumes distributions are reinvested back into the index. It does not include fees or expenses. CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (BXM)—tracks the performance of a hypothetical buy-write strategy on the S&P 500 Index. A “buy-write” strategy is generally one in which an investor buys a stock (or basket of stocks), and also writes covered calls that correspond to those holdings. CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is a measure of implied volatility, based on the prices of a basket of S&P 500 Index options with 30 days to expiration. DIVO differs substantially from the S&P 500 Index and CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite index, which are used for comparison purposes as widely recognized measures of U.S. stock market performance. While the returns of DIVO have exhibited positive (but varying) correlation to the indexes over time, DIVO may invest in different stocks and in different proportions than in the S&P 500 index and CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite index.
1All percentages shown indicate total return of the sector for the month. 2A covered call refers to a financial transaction in which the investor selling call options owns an equivalent amount of the underlying security.