Corgi IP Licensing & Royalties ETF (PTNT)

The Corgi IP Licensing & Royalties ETF — ticker PTNT — targets companies that monetize ideas and creative works through licensing and royalty streams, whether through patent licensing, software licensing, music and film royalties, or pharmaceutical and technology licensing arrangements.

Intellectual property licensing is one of the least understood revenue streams in the market. Most investors are familiar with buying a stake in Apple or Microsoft and owning a claim on their hardware and software sales. Fewer understand the world of companies that do not make the products themselves but instead collect recurring payments from others who use their inventions, brands, or creative works. A pharmaceutical firm might license a breakthrough drug formula to a larger distributor. A music publisher might collect royalties from streaming platforms. A technology patent holder might receive recurring payments from smartphone makers who use its innovations. A toy company might earn franchise royalties from licensees around the world. A chemical company might license its manufacturing process. All of these arrangements share a common trait: they generate cash from the intellectual property itself, not from making and selling a final consumer good.

PTNT invests in companies built on that model. The fund’s portfolio includes businesses that derive material revenue — not just token sums, but significant portions of their business — from these IP-monetisation arrangements. The fund requires that qualifying companies earn meaningful income from patent licensing, technology licensing (including standards-essential patents), software licensing, content and media royalties (music, film, television, publishing), brand and trademark licensing, franchise royalties, or pharmaceutical and life-sciences royalty streams.

The appeal is cyclical and structural. Cyclically, licensing businesses benefit from an innovation-rich economy: when companies invest in R&D and create patentable technologies, the royalty streams flow. Structurally, royalty and licensing revenue is recurring, predictable, and often has very high margins — the intellectual property is created once, and then collected on repeatedly with minimal marginal cost. An investor in a licensing-heavy company is not betting on manufacturing competence or distribution prowess but on the durability and scope of the IP moat.

PTNT is actively managed — Corgi Strategies selects the holdings rather than tracking a predetermined index — which means the fund’s portfolio is a reflection of the manager’s view of which IP monetisation opportunities are attractive. The expense ratio is 0.35%, competitive for an actively managed fund. The fund launched as part of Corgi’s 2026 launch of 28 thematic ETFs across multiple sectors and strategies, trading on Cboe BZX.

The risk, of course, is concentration. Not all IP holds its value equally. A patent may expire or be invalidated. A trademark can lose consumer power. A licensing deal can be renegotiated downward. And some IP monetisation is cyclical — when corporates cut R&D spending or when media spending tightens, royalty flows can compress. Additionally, the fund’s relatively smaller size compared to broad-market ETFs means liquidity may be tighter and trading costs higher.

For investors intrigued by the idea of owning a basket of companies whose business models are centred on the enduring value of ideas and creative works — businesses with high margins and recurring revenue — PTNT offers a concentrated way to access that theme without picking individual stocks.