New ETF from Doge Dividend Architect bets against DEI by excluding S&P 500 companies that explicitly hire on race and gender, removing Nike, Intel, Airbnb, and others.

Azoria's ‘Anti-DEI' ETF takes on the $4 trillion S&P 500 ETF complex.

Azoria releases new research showing that companies with ‘DEI hiring targets' have underperformed by 19 percentage points.

WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESS Newswire / July 8, 2025 / Azoria Capital, Inc. (Azoria) today publicly listed its 'anti-DEI' exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF (ticker: SPXM). SPXM, available through any U.S. brokerage account, invests in the top 500 U.S. companies except those that impose racial or gender hiring targets (‘DEI hiring targets'). SPXM's premise is simple: companies that hire and promote on skill and ability will be more successful than those that hire on race and gender.

37 S&P 500 companies are excluded from SPXM at launch. Among them are Nike, which aims for "35% representation of racial and ethnic minorities in its U.S. corporate workforce," Intel, which seeks "25% representation of women in senior leadership roles," and Airbnb which commits that "20 percent of US employees will identify as underrepresented minorities."

Azoria believes every American is capable of greatness. No one-black Americans, women, or anyone else-needs a hiring target to succeed. These targets insult individual achievement, betray merit, and reject the dream that we be judged by the content of our character. They also hurt stock returns by preventing companies from hiring the best, forcing in not-yet-qualified workers, and fueling internal division and strife. If companies return to merit, SPXM will proudly invest in them because merit is morally right and financially smart.

New research from Azoria shows that a portfolio of S&P 500 companies with ‘DEI hiring targets' has underperformed the S&P 500 Index by a staggering 19 percentage points in the last two years and 9.4 percentage points in the last year. "The massive underperformance of the three-dozen DEI losers is exactly why SPXM excludes them," said Azoria Founder and CEO James Fishback.

"Until now, investors had no way to exclude DEI losers from their standard S&P 500 ETF. Now they do. It's called SPXM, and it's available today to any American with a brokerage account," Fishback added.

Azoria believes that every dollar invested in SPXM sends a powerful message to corporate America: Americans deserve dignity in employment. No one should be reduced to an arbitrary diversity target nor excluded because they don't happen to meet one.

Fishback continues, "I believe SPXM will be the fastest ETF ever to reach $1 billion in assets because Americans-left, right, and center-know that hiring based on race and gender is no way to run a profitable business."

In December 2024, Fishback first publicly shared his vision for a merit-based alternative to the S&P 500 at Azoria's launch event at Mar-a-Lago, which included remarks from President Donald J. Trump, Cathie Wood (CEO, ARK Invest), and Dr. Kevin Roberts (President, Heritage Foundation).

About SPXM: The Azoria 500 Meritocracy ETF begins with an initial universe of the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. companies by market capitalization. Azoria then applies a proprietary research methodology to evaluate whether each company has publicly disclosed an explicit quantitative demographic hiring target, goal, quota, or aspiration. Companies that have disclosed such policies are excluded from the ETF's portfolio.

About Azoria: Azoria is an American investment firm founded by James T. Fishback, the architect of the DOGE Dividend proposal. Previously, he was the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Macrovoyant, a global macro hedge fund. Azoria's mission is to generate positive returns for investors through a commitment to free thinking, excellence, and meritocracy.Learn more at investazoria.com

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Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

Thematic Investing Risk. The Fund's investment strategy focuses on companies that exemplify meritocratic principles. This thematic approach may prevent the Fund from buying or selling certain securities and could impact performance compared to broader, more diversified funds.

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SOURCE: Azoria