Latest ETF Taps AI Versions of Buffett, Druckenmiller

One of the biggest debates in Hollywood today is whether actors should be “revived” via special effects and AI to reprise their classic roles: the Peter Cushing conundrum. That same question could be asked of the latest ETF launch.

A new AI-powered exchange-traded fund uses large language models to mimic the personalities, philosophies — and hopefully the successes — of about a dozen of the world’s best traders, including Warren Buffett, Paul Singer, and Stanley Druckenmiller. Intelligent Alpha launched its Intelligent Livermore ETF (LIVR) last week — named in honor of day-trading pioneer Jesse Livermore — which taps LLMs like OpenAI’s GPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude to emulate notable investors. The technology targets nearly 70 holdings in a range of sectors including AI, healthcare, energy, and consumer staples.

“We were curious: Can [Chat]GPT beat the S&P 500?” Intelligent Alpha founder and CEO Doug Clinton told The Daily Upside. 

Know How to Pick ‘Em

Don’t worry, a real-life human has final oversight, and the company says the stocks suggested by the chatbots may not necessarily reflect those held by their real-life counterparts. Buffett is a big fan of Apple, for example, but AI Buffett might be more interested in Android, Clinton said. 

“A lot of people don’t know what it means to invest with AI versus what it means to invest in AI,” Clinton told The Daily Upside. “AIQ is an ETF that holds Meta and Nvidia and other AI-related stocks, but they’re not using AI to pick those stocks. We actually are.” The vehicle comes with a 0.69% fee. 

Existential Crisis. AI stock-pickers could replace plenty of portfolio managers and analysts. It’s survival of the fittest, but Clinton views it as motivation. “When we’re not competing with AI — this intelligent robot that can do so many different things — maybe we get lazy,” Clinton said. “The humans who are really good at their jobs, the humans who are really good investors, will probably gather more assets. Everybody else who’s just average, they’re going to get eaten up by AI.”

While traders come and go, Clinton said his tool would benefit from the experience and expertise of both living and dead managers. If a manager was to pass on, they would stay in the system for some time to see how the AI adjusts. “There will be names that come and go over time,” he said.