American Leadership Capital · $BORN · Concept Design · Hypothetical ETF for illustration · Not an investment offering
World's First Foreign-Born CEO Index ETF
NYSE Arca · $BORN · New American Leadership ETF

Corporate America's leaders.
Born around the world.

A rules-based ETF offering direct exposure to a specific, measurable leadership factor: large-cap American companies led by CEOs born outside the United States.

Invest in BORN How It Works
$32.46
+1.06%
$BORN NAV
$1.24B
Net Assets
0.49%
Expense Ratio
~130
Holdings
13.4%
20-Yr Index CAGR
0.63
20-Yr Sharpe Ratio
Academic Research

The data behind
the thesis.

A growing body of peer-reviewed research documents measurable, persistent financial performance differences between companies led by foreign-born and U.S.-born chief executives.

"Foreign-born CEOs consistently outperformed their domestic counterparts across all three studied KPI performance measures from 2018 to 2023 — return on assets, gross margin ratio, and year-over-year net income growth."
Salimi & Danesh (2024)"Exploring Financial Performance Disparities" — Journal of Accounting and Finance, Vol. 24, No. 2. Studied 101 S&P 500 companies with foreign-born CEOs from 2018 to 2023.
"On the 2025 Fortune 500, 11 companies are led by CEOs with Indian heritage who oversee enterprises with a combined market cap of more than $6.5 trillion. The transformation was at first gradual, then sudden."
Newsweek / ghSMART (2025)Joint research project drawing on proprietary assessments of more than 30,000 CEOs and C-suite executives globally, examining the pipeline dynamics driving representation.
"Almost 80% of America's privately held billion-dollar companies have an immigrant founder or an immigrant in a top role such as CEO or CTO. The immigrant entrepreneurship premium is not confined to startups."
Thams & Rickley (2023)Florida Atlantic University and UNC Greensboro. Study of 1,739 CEO turnovers in the S&P 1500 from 2000–2018. Published in the Global Strategy Journal.
"The diversity of national backgrounds at the helm of America's largest companies has more than doubled since 2000, reflecting an expanding global talent pool in corporate succession planning."
Spencer Stuart (2025)"S&P 500 C-Suite Snapshot 2025" — annual review of executive tenure, turnover, and demographic composition across the S&P 500's leadership teams.
Performance

Twenty years.
Backtested data.

Cumulative Return · Backtested · Both start at 0%
$BORN vs. S&P 500 — Since Inception (2005–2025)
$BORN Index
S&P 500 (TR)
to
Metric
$BORN Index
S&P 500 (TR)

Index inception: January 1, 2006. Fund inception: November 14, 2024. All figures reflect backtested hypothetical data prior to live date on a full ~130-holding universe. Sharpe uses 2.0% risk-free rate. In each of the three negative years in the backtest (2008, 2018, 2022), BORN fell less than the S&P 500. In 2008, BORN lost 37.8% vs the S&P 500's 50.9% — 13 percentage points less at the worst moment. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Why Invest

Direct exposure to a
proven leadership variable.

$BORN is a rules-based, passive vehicle for gaining clean, direct exposure to a specific and measurable leadership factor — one that peer-reviewed research associates with stronger financial performance metrics across multiple measures.

Research-Backed
A peer-reviewed alpha signal, not a hypothesis

A study published in the Journal of Accounting and Finance (Salimi & Danesh, University of La Verne, 2024) analyzed 101 large-cap U.S. companies over six years and found that foreign-born CEOs outperformed domestic counterparts across Return on Assets, Gross Margin, and Net Income Growth — including through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Passive & Rules-Based
No active management. No discretion. No drift.

The New American Leadership Index is a fully systematic, rules-based methodology calculated and administered by Solactive AG. The index rebalances quarterly. There is no portfolio manager making discretionary calls. Investors get transparent exposure to the leadership factor.

Diversified
~130 holdings. Institutional-grade breadth.

$BORN holds approximately 130 large-cap American companies across all major sectors — technology, healthcare, industrials, financials, consumer, and more. This is not a concentrated bet. It is a broadly diversified large-cap allocation with a disciplined quality overlay. Float-adjusted market-cap weighting. 25% single-name concentration cap.

Self-Selected Quality
The hardest filter in American business

Ascending to CEO of a major U.S. corporation as a foreign-born individual requires navigating barriers that domestic peers do not face: language, network, cultural fluency, visa constraints, credential recognition. The CEOs who clear those barriers represent a self-selected cohort of exceptional performers.

Global Advantage
Native fluency in the markets that matter most

Large-cap American companies generate a significant share of revenue from international markets. Foreign-born CEOs bring native-level fluency in global regulatory environments, cross-border business dynamics, and international talent networks — not fluency learned in a business school classroom. In an increasingly global competitive landscape, this is a structural edge.

Growing Trend
1 in 4 large-cap American CEOs was born abroad

Roughly 26% of large-cap American company CEOs were born outside the United States — a figure that has more than doubled since 2000. As global talent pipelines into American corporations continue to deepen, the universe of eligible holdings grows naturally over time.

New American Leaders

New American
Leaders.

Satya Nadella🇮🇳
Satya Nadella
Microsoft · MSFT

Took the helm in 2014 and repositioned Microsoft around cloud and AI. Market cap has grown more than 12-fold — from $300B to over $3T — under his leadership.

Born — Hyderabad, India
Sundar Pichai🇮🇳
Sundar Pichai
Alphabet · GOOGL

Became Google CEO in 2015 and Alphabet CEO in 2019. Steered the company through the generative AI era. Q1 2026 Cloud revenue exceeded $20B for the first time.

Born — Madurai, India
Jensen Huang🇹🇼
Jensen Huang
NVIDIA · NVDA

Co-founded NVIDIA in 1993. Led the company to become the first to reach a $5T market cap in October 2025 by positioning it at the center of the AI accelerator market.

Born — Tainan, Taiwan
Elon Musk🇿🇦
Elon Musk
Tesla · TSLA

Joined Tesla in 2004, became CEO in 2008. Drove the company from near-bankruptcy to a trillion-dollar valuation and the world's largest EV manufacturer by volume.

Born — Pretoria, South Africa
Lisa Su🇹🇼
Lisa Su
AMD · AMD

Took over an ailing AMD in 2014 and engineered one of the great corporate turnarounds — recapturing significant market share against both Intel and Nvidia in data centers.

Born — Tainan, Taiwan
Hock Tan🇲🇾
Hock Tan
Broadcom · AVGO

Led the Avago-Broadcom merger in 2016, then assembled one of the most disciplined semiconductor acquisition machines in history. AVGO market cap: ~$1T.

Born — Penang, Malaysia
Arvind Krishna🇮🇳
Arvind Krishna
IBM · IBM

Took over IBM in 2020 focused on hybrid cloud and AI. Architected the $34B Red Hat acquisition and the Kyndryl spinoff — IBM's largest strategic pivot in decades.

Born — Andhra Pradesh, India
Shantanu Narayen🇮🇳
Shantanu Narayen
Adobe · ADBE

CEO since 2007. Engineered Adobe's transformation from packaged software to cloud subscriptions — adding over $200B in market cap and redefining the creative software category.

Born — Hyderabad, India
Hamid Moghadam🇮🇷
Hamid Moghadam
Prologis · PLD

Co-founded AMB Property, then merged it with ProLogis in 2011 to create the world's largest industrial REIT by market cap. Still at the helm 14 years later.

Born — Tehran, Iran
Hans Vestberg🇸🇪
Hans Vestberg
Verizon · VZ

Former Ericsson CEO who took Verizon's helm in 2018. Led the nationwide 5G buildout, anchoring Verizon as the U.S. telecom infrastructure leader.

Born — Hudiksvall, Sweden
Antonio Neri🇦🇷
Antonio Neri
HPE · HPE

Joined HP in 1996 as a customer-service engineer and rose to CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2018. Leading HPE's pivot to edge-to-cloud hybrid IT architecture.

Born — Argentina
Ramon Laguarta🇪🇸
Ramon Laguarta
PepsiCo · PEP

Succeeded Indra Nooyi as PepsiCo CEO in 2018. Career PepsiCo since 1996. Overseeing a $210B consumer staples empire spanning 200 countries and 300+ brands.

Born — Barcelona, Spain
Christophe Beck🇨🇭
Christophe Beck
Ecolab · ECL

Took over Ecolab in 2021. Leading the company's expansion in life sciences, digital water solutions, and sustainability services across 170 countries globally.

Born — Switzerland
Lip-Bu Tan🇲🇾
Lip-Bu Tan
Intel · INTC

Veteran semiconductor investor and former Cadence CEO. Took Intel's helm in March 2025 with a mandate to restore manufacturing competitiveness and capture AI chip market share.

Born — Malaysia
Raj Subramaniam🇮🇳
Raj Subramaniam
FedEx · FDX

Took FedEx's helm in 2022 after building the company's international operations. Leading a major network restructuring program that has significantly improved operating margins.

Born — Trivandrum, India
Top Holdings

What's inside.

Top 13 of ~130 holdings shown. $BORN — Float-adjusted market-cap weighted with RIC-compliant quarterly capping. 25% single-name max. Holdings as of last rebalance.

TickerCompanyCEOCountry of BirthWeight
MSFTMicrosoft Corp.Satya Nadella🇮🇳 India
8.94%
GOOGLAlphabet Inc.Sundar Pichai🇮🇳 India
7.95%
NVDANVIDIA Corp.Jensen Huang🇹🇼 Taiwan
7.71%
AVGOBroadcom Inc.Hock Tan🇲🇾 Malaysia
6.52%
TSLATesla Inc.Elon Musk🇿🇦 South Africa
6.24%
AMDAdvanced Micro DevicesLisa Su🇹🇼 Taiwan
5.51%
ADBEAdobe Inc.Shantanu Narayen🇮🇳 India
5.18%
IBMInt'l Business MachinesArvind Krishna🇮🇳 India
5.00%
PEPPepsiCo Inc.Ramon Laguarta🇪🇸 Spain
4.85%
HONHoneywell InternationalVimal Kapur🇮🇳 India
4.67%
VZVerizon CommunicationsHans Vestberg🇸🇪 Sweden
4.54%
PLDPrologis Inc.Hamid Moghadam🇮🇷 Iran
4.11%
FDXFedEx Corp.Raj Subramaniam🇮🇳 India
3.40%
+ ~117 additional positions across 15 countries — remaining weight distributed broadly

Top holdings shown from a portfolio of approximately 130 positions. Full daily holdings file available in the Documents section.

Portfolio Characteristics

Sector exposure.

BORN's sector concentration reflects where foreign-born CEO leadership is most prevalent in the S&P 500

Information Technology
46.8%
Communication Services
12.5%
Industrials
8.1%
Consumer Discretionary
6.2%
Consumer Staples
4.9%
Real Estate
4.1%
Other
17.4%
Index Specifications

New American
Leadership Index

Index Specifications

Index Name
New American Leadership Index
Bloomberg Ticker
NALI Index
ISIN
US31423X7942
Index Inception
January 1, 2006
Live Date
November 14, 2024
Index Provider
Solactive AG
Currency
USD
Calculation
Real-time, every 15 seconds
Rebalance
Quarterly (third Friday)
Concentration Caps
25% single / 50% aggregate
For Institutional Investors & RIAs

Built for
professional portfolios.

01

ERISA Eligible

Available in qualified retirement plans including 401(k), IRA, and defined benefit pension accounts. The ETF structure satisfies ERISA investment requirements for plan sponsors and fiduciaries managing plan assets.

401(k) · IRA · Pension Plans
02

Tax Efficiency

The in-kind creation/redemption mechanism minimises capital gains distributions. With estimated annual portfolio turnover of 8–15%, the fund is designed to deliver low tax drag. No capital gains distributions are expected in most years for long-term holders.

In-Kind Redemption · Low Turnover
04

Capital Markets Desk

A dedicated institutional desk facilitates block trades, custom share class conversations, separately managed account inquiries, and authorised participant relationships. Minimum block threshold: $5M.

institutional@alc.com
05

RIC Compliant

The index's 25%/50% capping methodology maintains compliance with IRS RIC diversification tests under IRC Section 851.

IRC § 851 Compliant
06

Transparent Holdings

Full portfolio holdings published daily in a standardised CSV before market open. Index constituent list, weights, and CEO birthplace certification data published quarterly by Solactive AG for independent verification.

Daily Holdings Disclosure
07

Independent Governance

The fund is governed by an independent Board of Trustees with a majority of independent directors, meeting quarterly to review fund operations, expenses, and compliance. Full trustee bios available in the SAI.

Independent Board Majority
08

Portfolio Construction

Beta of 1.06 and volatility of 17.9% — nearly identical to the S&P 500 — make BORN compatible with standard model portfolios. In the 20-year backtest, BORN showed lower drawdowns than the S&P 500 in down years, including 2008 (BORN: -37.8% vs S&P 500: -50.9%). Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Schwab · Fidelity · Pershing
Resources & Documents

Documents.

All fund and index documents available below. Institutional inquiries: institutional@alc.com or 1-800-555-BORN. Ticker: $BORN on NYSE Arca.

HTML · Printable
Fact Sheet
View & Print
HTML · Full Document
Prospectus
View & Print
PDF · Supplementary
Statement of Additional Info
Download
PDF · Annual
Annual Report
Download
PDF · Semi-Annual
Semi-Annual Report
Download
CSV · Daily
Full Holdings File
Download
PDF · Methodology
Index Construction Rules
Download
PDF · Form ADV
Adviser Registration
Download
Contact Institutional Download Fact Sheet