Deep Cuts & Hedged Hits: DEEP & SHUS Celebrate Another Lap Around the Sun!

June 16, 2025 EDT

Break out the cake and crank up the playlist—we’re throwing an ETF birthday bash for two funds that aren’t afraid to do things differently: the Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value ETF (DEEP) and the Stratified LargeCap Hedged ETF (SHUS).

These two may not headline flashy tech rallies or ride the meme stock rollercoaster, but they’ve each carved out a niche that makes them worth toasting. Grab a party hat, maybe a glass of something bubbly, and let’s meet the guests of honor.

DEEP: Rocking the Undervalued Underground

Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value ETF (DEEP) isn’t your average ETF—it’s the cool, contrarian cousin who shows up to the party with vintage vinyl and a list of under-the-radar bands (or in this case, small and micro-cap stocks).

Launched to spotlight 100 undervalued domestic stocks in the small and micro-cap space, DEEP is all about deep value. It tracks an index that hunts for stocks that are believed to be cheap based on real business fundamentals—think cash flow, earnings, and balance sheet strength—not just vibes. It’s powered by the Acquirer's Multiple, a value investing metric made famous by activist investors and private equity pros.

Why Investors Like DEEP:

It digs where others don’t—small and micro-caps with room to run.
Purposeful strategy backed by classic value principles.
Aims to uncover off-the-radar finds overlooked by mainstream indexes.

Bottom line? DEEP is for investors who believe the best opportunities may live off the beaten path—and who don’t mind a little dust on their diamonds.

SHUS: The Smooth Operator

Stratified LargeCap Hedged ETF (SHUS), on the other hand, shows up in a sleek suit, calmly sipping a cocktail while the market throws a tantrum. It’s large-cap exposure with a built-in hedge—a strategy that aims to seek upside while striving to protect against downside.

SHUS replaces your usual cap-weighted suspects with a Stratified Weight™ approach—giving each sector a fair shot and avoiding mega-cap dominance. But here’s the kicker: it also employs an options overlay strategy to hedge against equity market risk. That means it may help investors stay in the game without white knuckling every pullback.

Why Investors Like SHUS:

Equal sector love—less over-concentration.
Uses options in an effort to reduce drawdowns.
Built for folks focused on growth-oriented exposure, but not the gut-punches.

In short? SHUS is the portfolio wingman.

Let’s Raise a Glass to the Rebels

DEEP and SHUS aren’t trying to be everything to everyone—and that’s what makes them stand out. Whether you're a value sleuth ready to go DEEP, or someone who likes their large-cap exposure with a side of hedging via SHUS, these funds have found their rhythm in a crowded ETF world.

Happy anniversary, DEEP and SHUS! Keep doing you.

Tour the finer details of Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value ETF (DEEP)

Delve deeper into Stratified LargeCap Hedged ETF (SHUS)

DEEP Disclosures:
Effective December 21, 2024, Acquirers Funds, LLC became the fund’s sponsor and the fund’s name changed. DEEP previously traded as the Deep Value ETF, ticker DVP. Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC remains the fund’s investment adviser.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the DEEP ETF please call 1-855-561-5728 or visit https://www.acquirersdeep.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Historically, small and micro cap stocks have been more volatile than the stock of larger, more-established companies. Smaller companies may have limited resources, product lines and markets, and their securities may trade less frequently and in more limited volumes than the securities of larger companies. Please see the prospectus for details of these and other risks.

Distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.

Stratified Disclosures:

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call (866) 972-4492 or visit our website at https://stratifiedfunds.com/investor-materials. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

The Funds are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC serves as the investment advisor. Foreside Fund Services, LLC. is not affiliated with Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC or any of its affiliates.

Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. The Funds are subject to certain other risks, including but not limited to, equity securities risk, large-capitalization risk, index tracking risk, passive strategy/index risk, and market trading risk. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Investors may purchase or sell individual shares on an exchange on which they are listed. Market returns are based upon the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time (when NAV is normally determined for most ETFs), and do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. Please see the prospectus for more details.

The Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index™ is the property of Syntax, LLC, which has contracted with S&P Opco, LLC (a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC) to calculate and maintain the Index. The Index is not sponsored by S&P Dow Jones Indices or its affiliates or its third-party licensors (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”). S&P Dow Jones Indices will not be liable for any errors or omissions in calculating the Index. “Calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices” and the related stylized mark(s) are service marks of S&P Dow Jones Indices and have been licensed for use by Syntax, LLC, the parent company of Syntax Advisors, LLC. S&P® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“SPFS”), and Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”).

The Syntax Stratified LargeCap Index™ is the property of Syntax, LLC, the Fund’s index provider. Syntax®, Stratified®, Stratified Indices®, Stratified Weight™, and FIS™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Locus LP. Performance of an index is not illustrative of any particular investment. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

Stratified Weight™ is the weighting methodology by which Syntax diversifies an index’s constituent companies that share “Related Business Risks.” Related Business Risk occurs when two or more companies provide similar products and/or services or share economic relationships such as having common suppliers, customers or competitors. The process of identifying, grouping, and diversifying holdings across Related Business Risk groups within an index is called stratification, and was designed by Syntax to seek to correct for business risk concentrations that regularly occur in capitalization-weighted indices and equal-weighted indices.

The Stratified Hedged Strategy combines the benefits of exposure to a Stratified Weight™ equity portfolio with a rules-based protection program managed by Exchange Traded Concepts to reduce the risk of losses due to market downturns.

Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against a loss.

The S&P 500® Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S.