Why did the ETF betting against Jim Cramer’s stock picks shut down in less than a year?

An exchange traded fund built around betting against American TV personality Jim Cramer’s stock recommendations lost 15% before closing less than a year after its launch as limited investor interest and the demands of managing the strategy contributed to its shutdown.

The Inverse Cramer Tracker ETF traded under the ticker SJIM. It launched in March 2023 and had attracted $2.4 million in assets by January 2024.

Then on January 25, 2024, the fund’s board approved its liquidation. Ending an attempt to make money by betting against Jim Cramer’s stock recommendations.


The decision came about five months after the closure of a companion fund, the Long Cramer Tracker ETF (LJIM), which invested in stocks Cramer recommended rather than betting against them.

How the Inverse Cramer ETF Worked

SJIM aimed to deliver investment results approximately opposite to those of the investments recommended by Cramer, the longtime host of CNBC’s Mad Money. Its strategy included taking positions against stocks he recommended and betting on securities he advised investors to avoid.

The fund was created by Tuttle Capital Management and not by Cramer himself. Its prospectus stated that Cramer was not involved in the fund’s creation, management or operations and that the fund and its adviser were not affiliated with him or the media outlets through which his recommendations were communicated.

Running the strategy required Tuttle’s team to monitor Cramer’s television appearances and social media commentary. The team then had to decide which recommendations to oppose and when to close those positions. The process was time-consuming and subjective, making it difficult to apply a repeatable trading approach to Cramer’s frequent stock calls.

SJIM Lost 15% While the S&P 500 Gained 25%

SJIM lost 15% on a total return basis from its March 2023 launch through late January 2024. Over the same period, the S&P 500 gained 25% and while the First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF (FTLS) rose 19%, according to ETF.com report.

The figures show how sharply SJIM underperformed the broader market and another long-short fund during its operating period. However, the comparison does not establish that the strategy alone caused SJIM’s losses.

The fund also struggled to attract capital. Its $2.4 million in assets by the January 2024 closure announcement reflected limited investor interest in the product.

Matt Tuttle Said Interest in the Strategy Never Materialized

Matt Tuttle, chief executive of Tuttle Capital Management and SJIM’s portfolio manager, said retail investors were more focused on volatile products and that interest in a long-short portfolio had never fully materialized.

He also said he did not have enough time to keep running the portfolio because of the firm’s other initiatives and the success of its T-REX product line.

Tuttle said he had launched SJIM to highlight what he viewed as the risks of following television stock pickers, particularly Cramer, without accountability. He believed the fund had accomplished that objective.

The Long Cramer ETF Closed Five Months Earlier

SJIM launched alongside the Long Cramer Tracker ETF, or LJIM, which followed the opposite strategy by investing in stocks Cramer recommended.

LJIM closed about five months before SJIM’s planned shutdown, it had attracted approximately $1.3 million in assets, as per Bloomberg report.

Tuttle Capital Management was also behind the AXS Short Innovation Daily ETF (SARK), which bets against Cathie Wood’s flagship fund. Tuttle had partnered with REX Shares on leveraged single-stock ETFs tied to companies including Tesla and Nvidia.

Jim Cramer Had Welcomed Bets Against His Recommendations

Cramer has spent decades on Wall Street, first as a hedge-fund manager and later as the host of Mad Money that comes on CNBC. When plans for the two Cramer-themed ETFs emerged in 2022, he reportedly welcomed people betting against him. He also argued that those investors would be wagering against successful US companies, including Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms.

When Did the Inverse Cramer ETF Close

The fund’s board authorized an orderly liquidation on January 25, 2024. And according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, February 13 2024, was scheduled to be the final trading day, with liquidation and distribution of the remaining assets expected on February 23.

The closure came amid a broader wave of ETF shutdowns. Jane Edmondson, head of thematic strategy at TMX VettaFi told Bloomberg in 2024, “There are a lot of ‘fad’ thematics, not tied to sound economic principles,” adding, “Sadly, most of them are destined to fail.”

SJIM’s short operating history ended with a 15% total-return loss and limited investor interest. Its closure brought an end to an investment product built around taking the opposite side of a prominent television stock picker’s recommendations.