As investors rotate away from richly valued technology giants and seek new sources of income and diversification, Thornburg Investment Management has launched the Thornburg Premium Income Builder ETF (NYSE:THOR), an actively managed global equity fund that combines dividend-paying stocks with an options overlay strategy.
The launch comes amid heightened market volatility and growing debate over whether the AI-driven rally can continue after years of outperformance from the Magnificent Seven. Thornburg, which manages $60 billion in assets, said THOR is designed to generate income while maintaining exposure to long-term capital appreciation.
“THOR takes a valuation-sensitive approach that seeks to balance income generation, downside resilience, and long-term total return potential,” said Brian McMahon, Thornburg’s vice chairman, chief investment strategist, and portfolio manager.
What THOR Offers
The actively managed ETF:
- Invests in dividend-paying global equities
- Employs a flexible options strategy to enhance income
- Seeks long-term capital appreciation alongside current income
- Expands Thornburg’s rapidly growing ETF platform, which now oversees approximately $700 million in ETF assets
- Builds on Thornburg’s more than three decades of experience investing in global equity markets
Rotation Away From Mega-Cap Tech
The launch coincides with a broader market shift that has seen investors reassess concentrated exposure to mega-cap technology stocks.
“This rotation is a classic case of a market segment that’s run for the last four or five years,” said Cullen Rogers, portfolio manager of the Dan IVES Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (NYSE:IVES). “A lot of people are using these high—almost stretched—valuation levels in the Magnificent Seven to rotate into other parts of the market.”
Rogers pointed to international equities and small-cap stocks as areas attracting fresh capital as investors search for opportunities beyond the dominant AI winners.
AI Buildout Still Has Years To Run
Despite the recent pullback in semiconductor stocks ahead of Micron’s earnings report, several portfolio managers remain constructive on the long-term AI theme.
Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, characterized the recent selloff as a “reversion to the mean” following a powerful rally. He expects Micron to deliver strong results but noted that the stock has historically struggled to sustain post-earnings gains despite reporting robust numbers.
Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments and portfolio manager of the Wedbush LAFFER TENGLER New Era Value ETF (NYSE:TGLR), argued that investors remain in the early innings of what she calls the AI technological revolution. She highlighted surging U.S. technology-related industrial production and continued spending on semiconductor infrastructure as evidence that the cycle remains intact.
Tengler has also maintained a long-standing preference for U.S. equities over China, noting that Chinese equities have largely stagnated since the global financial crisis while U.S. stocks have generated multi-fold returns. She attributed part of China’s relative weakness to declining exports to the U.S. and persistent tariff pressures, even as exports to Europe have increased.
On Micron, Tengler believes the company has evolved beyond a cyclical memory-chip manufacturer into a critical supplier of AI infrastructure. She cited ongoing memory shortages, rising AI-related demand, and increasing memory requirements in advanced AI systems as factors that could support pricing power and profitability for years.
For income-focused investors looking to maintain exposure to global equities while navigating an increasingly volatile and AI-driven market, THOR arrives at a time when diversification and active management are back in focus.
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