GFGF ETF: Investing in Wide-Moat Companies
“The most important thing in evaluating a business is determining how wide the moat is around it.” — Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett built his investing legacy by buying companies with strong, sustainable competitive advantages — businesses that can defend profits, grow through cycles, and outlast competitors.
That same principle drives the GFGF ETF, a fund that seeks to focus on identifying and owning high quality companies with wide-moat.
What Is an Economic Moat?
An economic moat focuses on protecting a company’s long-term profitability — it’s what keeps competitors from potentially eroding its returns. These are the kinds of durable business models Buffett has famously called “economic castles with unbreachable moats.”
Common sources of moats include:
- Brand Power
- Network Effects
- High Switching Costs
- Cost Advantages
- Efficient Scale
Quantifying the Moat: Moat Score
To measure the strength and sustainability of these competitive advantages, GuruFocus created the Moat Score — a quantitative framework that evaluates profitability, returns on invested capital, and consistency over time.
For example, based on recent data:
- Microsoft, Apple, and Visa sit at the top of the Moat Rank scale, reflecting dominant market positions and exceptional capital efficiency.
- Coca-Cola also scores highly thanks to its unmatched global brand and pricing resilience.
- By contrast, cyclical and commodity businesses — like airlines or automakers — typically earn lower Moat Ranks, as competition limits long-term profitability.
GFGF’s Edge: Higher Moat Rank Than the S&P 500
The Moat Rank of GFGF ETF holdings has been substantially higher than that of the S&P 500, as shown in the last row of the table.
Table 1: Proprietary Moat Score and Quality Metrics
| Parameter | GFGF Portfolio | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Margin¹ % | 30.6 | 17.6 |
| ROE² % | 35.1 | 15.3 |
| ROIC³ % | 14.3 | 7.8 |
| 3-Year Revenue Growth Rate (Per Share) % | 10.0 | 7.0 |
| Moat Score | 8.2 | 6.7 |
Date: As of 10/21/2025. Source: GuruFocus.com. Stock quotes are provided by QuoteMedia, Inc. (CSI). Company fundamental data is provided by Morningstar. Analyst estimates data is sourced from both Refinitiv and Morningstar.
The securities discussed are for informational purposes only and do not represent the fund’s current or future investments. Portfolio holdings are subject to change and should not be considered investment advice. For GFGF ETF holdings, visit GFGF ETF website.
Moat Score is a ranking system developed by GuruFocus.com to assess a company’s ability to sustain a competitive advantage, rated on a scale from 0 to 10. It takes into account key factors such as market leadership, cost advantages, network effects, customer switching costs, and more.
The Goal of GFGF is to invest in companies with robust and lasting competitive advantages, offering exposure to the same types of businesses that have driven Buffett’s success for decades.
Why Wide-Moat Investing Matters Now: Note Just Quality
In today’s landscape of intensifying competition and rapid technological change, we believe economic moats have never been more important. Wide-moat companies aim to protect their margins, adapt to disruption, and continue to compound value—even amid market volatility.
As Warren Buffett famously said in his 2007 Berkshire Hathaway annual letter to shareholders, “A truly great business must have an enduring “moat” that protects excellent Returns on Invested Capital.”
The GFGF ETF aims to provide financial advisors and their clients with a data-driven approach to investing in quality—that seeks to focus on wide-moat businesses that have proven their resilience over time. Of course, past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
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