On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research, Todd Rosenbluth, discussed the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) with Chuck Jaffe of Money Life. The pair discussed several topics related to the ETF, in order to give investors a deeper understanding of it.Chuck Jaffe: One fund on point for today. The expert to talk about it. This is the ETF of the Week!
Welcome to the ETF of the Week, where we examine trending, newsworthy, unique, and intriguing exchange-traded funds. And we do it with Todd Rosenbluth, the head of research at VettaFi. And you can go to VettaFi.com to find all the tools and research that you need to be a savvier, smarter investor in exchange-traded funds.
Todd Rosenbluth, great to chat with you again. Your ETF of the Week is?
Todd Rosenbluth: The Roundhill Memory ETF. DRAM or D-RAM.
Chuck Jaffe: DRAM it is. The Roundhill Memory ETF certainly qualifies as new and newsworthy, because this is a young fund that has gotten off to a very hot start, at least as it goes to gathering assets. But I’m sure there’s more to it than just new and newsworthy, isn’t there?
Todd Rosenbluth: Well, you’re right, so let’s cover what you did say. This fund launched just over a month ago. It has already gathered and has more than $6 billion in assets as you and I are recording this. Part of that is money coming in the door, and part of that is the very strong performance. That’s why I wanted to talk about it.
We often don’t talk about funds that — in fact, there’s nothing that’s come out of the gate as fast as this has. But an ETF is a basket, often of stocks or bonds, or I guess other asset classes also. And in the case of DRAM, it’s really just that. Three stocks: SK Hynix, Micron Technology, and Samsung Electronics are all 20% or more as you, and I are talking.
This is a very concentrated fund. People should know about it. People should know why it’s doing well, but also understand the risks that might come with it.
Chuck Jaffe: I mean, we now have single-stock ETFs and all the rest. This has a bigger portfolio. Is this just luck of the timing where the stocks it picked, you know, pop out earnings and all the rest, and it just comes at the perfect time? Or is there more to it? Why has this particular fund popped the way it has?
Todd Rosenbluth: So I think there’s a couple of things. And again, you never know why people are interested and why people are buying it. We are still in a very early and ongoing growth stage for artificial intelligence. Memory chips and memory technology is a key bottleneck that people have identified. And so, we’ve seen interest in these individual stocks. The stocks are doing well, and as such, the ETF is doing well. Micron Technology had a tremendous week.
We’re talking about this on Tuesday. Last week, it had a tremendous week. That helped to push the stock considerably higher, pushing the ETF, or any ETF that holds it. And something that holds 27% in Micron Technology is certainly going to move.
It’s also notable to me that while I mentioned Micron Technology, the two other heavyweights within this portfolio, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, are Korean companies. Korean stocks have done well. Korean stocks are also harder to access from a US investor standpoint—the local shares. So people, I think, are looking at this ETF because getting direct exposure to some of those faster-growing mega-cap stocks outside the United States is playing a role.
We’ve talked about thematic ETFs beforehand, and artificial intelligence-related thematic ETFs. We have seen a renaissance of thematic ETFs the last couple of years. We’ve seen it in some other categories outside of artificial intelligence. The space economy has been emerging. Maybe we’ll talk about that, because the SpaceX IPO is coming up. Maybe we’ll talk about that in a future ETF of the Week. But there was nothing like this ETF from a memory standpoint. I think that came out quite strong. We shall see if the demand continues.
Chuck Jaffe: I mean, that to me was the thing that was the surprise when I saw this fund. I’m like, okay, is there another pure-play memory fund? Is there something else out there? Because admittedly, with this fund getting this kind of assets so quickly, you’re not worrying about, you know, has it achieved critical mass? It certainly has. But it’s not like the average consumer really knows Roundhill, the fund sponsor here. It’s all about, you know, that pop, and ETFs don’t really pop like this.
Todd Rosenbluth: But when I saw this ETF come out, I thought about the VanEck Semiconductor ETF. That’s SMH, which holds semiconductor-related companies. And so, clearly tied to the artificial intelligence trend. That ETF is global. Taiwan Semiconductor is the second largest holding behind Nvidia and ahead of Intel and Broadcom.
So, there are other ways to get targeted exposure within the technology space. SMH did not have as strong an overall asset gathering initially, but it’s still a quite large ETF, and it is certainly worthy of attention. It’s $65 billion, just to catch myself. It’s a bigger ETF than DRAM. It just has taken some time to be able to get there. That’s a fund that launched in 2011, certainly not new.
Chuck Jaffe: And in that time, that fund, SMH, has developed a stellar track record. Not to say that DRAM will not, just to say you have an established choice. And by the way, VanEck Semiconductor has about 6-7% of its portfolio in Micron Technology. So maybe a little less volatility than we’re going to see.
Todd Rosenbluth: The ETFs go up when the stocks inside go up. Again, if it’s a stock-based ETF, they also go down. As you and I are recording this, I look coming in here and DRAM was down 7% Tuesday morning. I know folks are going to listen to this and watch this days after, and it could very well have bounced back, or it could have continued to fall, but stocks don’t go up in perpetuity. And an ETF that is concentrated in three stocks has a similar performance record, risks, and reward potential.
Chuck Jaffe: Do you wind up looking at this and saying, okay, I’m putting it on people’s radar screens, but I’m not buying it until it’s more proven? I mean, is that the basics here, or is this “I’m putting on people’s radar screens and just make sure you understand this fund again, compared to an SMH or something else in the space”? Before you say, “I’m willing to sign on and buy the hype”?
Todd Rosenbluth: I was going to go with a third choice. So, I’m not making a recommendation. I’m not at all. I’m usually not making a recommendation. I’m not authorized to do that. I’m not a licensed financial advisor.
What I’m saying is this is an ETF that is likely now on many people’s radars because if you did a screen for among the best-performing ETFs in the past month, if you did a screen based on new ETFs for this year, if you did a screen on new ETFs in general, DRAM is going to be there, so you might as well understand what it is.
So, if what you want is to get targeted exposure to global technology stocks that are tied to a narrow slice of that related to artificial intelligence, this is a great choice to be able to get that. But know that you’re essentially buying, right now, three stocks. This is an ETF that I believe is actively managed, and so the stocks inside could certainly shift.
We could see some new memory companies, related companies come out. There are other stocks outside of the top three; they’re much smaller. Western Digital and Nanya Technology are a couple of them, as I glance off to the side here.
If you’re going to go into this ETF, you need to go into it with your eyes wide open. That’s true in every conversation you and I are having, but when it’s this concentrated and this fast gathering assets, that’s all the more important.
Chuck Jaffe: There’s one more thing that goes along with that, which is — I’m not saying there’s an ETF jinx or anything along those lines — but when you wind up seeing something that is like, “oh, this is new, and it’s a quote-unquote pure-play way to cover a theme or an industry,” that often happens right around the time that the theme gets played out.
And not that you can expect memory to be played out, but maybe more volatility than the rest. I mean, maybe you haven’t found that in your experience, but I think it’s part of the reason why we don’t talk about theme funds all that often, isn’t it? That like, “yeah, here’s the latest theme and the music’s going to stop soon?”
Todd Rosenbluth: Right. So, themes often move in and out of favor. We have seen artificial intelligence-related themes remain popular and perform well over the last few years, because the stocks inside continue to do well. I’m a former fundamental stock research analyst. I know that there’s a valuation for each of these individual companies inside. I’m not qualified to be able to say if we’ve gotten to that point.
That’s what people should do. Take a look at the three stocks that are driving the overall performance of this ETF. Decide if — would you look at it and, if you’re a chart fan, I know many of your listeners are technicians. If that is favorable to you, I would imagine it’s probably doing quite well because these stocks are doing well. But I’m not qualified to tell you if the relative strength is strong enough.
All of these companies are profitable. You can understand how profitable they are. You can do that homework and then decide that the ETF is the right vehicle as opposed to owning the individual stocks. I’m impressed with what Roundhill and the DRAM ETF have done in very short order. I think it’s notable; it’s worthy of us having the conversation. It’s also worthy of people making sure that they are comfortable with adding it to a portfolio.
Chuck Jaffe: And let me be fair to Roundhill in that I talked about that jinx. You know, people said that about Roundhill when they came out with the Mag Seven fund, which was in 2023, and you would not be complaining, nor would you have said that one played out. So yeah, it’s just that it’s a tendency, not necessarily something else.
And it’s why this fund and others like it are interesting. It’s DRAM, the Roundhill Memory ETF, the ETF of the Week from Todd Rosenbluth at VettaFi. Todd, great stuff. We’ll see you again next week!
Todd Rosenbluth: Thanks a lot, Chuck.
Chuck Jaffe: The ETF of the Week is a joint production of VettaFi and Money Life with Chuck Jaffe. And I’m Chuck Jaffe. And you can learn more about my hour-long weekday podcast by going to MoneyLifeShow.com, or you can search for it wherever you find your favorite podcasts. And if you want to search for more information on your favorite ETFs or what might be your next favorite ETF, go to VettaFi.com.
VettaFi is on X at @Vetta_Fi, and Todd Rosenbluth, their head of research, my guest — well, he’s on X as well. He’s at @ToddRosenbluth. The ETF of the Week is here for you every Thursday. Make sure you don’t miss an episode by following along on your favorite podcast app. And we’ll be back with another ETF for you to consider next week.
Until then, happy investing, everybody!
Note: This article was created in part through assistance from AI tools. The content has been thoroughly reviewed and edited by the author.
Editor’s Note: As of Friday May 15, 2026, the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) has over $10 billion in assets under management.
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