‘Grift’ ETF Tied to Washington Access in Trump Era Hits a Wall

Wall Street’s $13 trillion ETF machine pushed boundaries this year, cranking out ever-riskier products to feed retail traders hooked on yield, leverage and novelty.

But when Connecticut-based Tuttle Capital Management proposed an exchange-traded fund tracking the perceived value of political access, the machine ran into a wall.

The Tuttle Capital Government Grift ETF — ticker GRFT — is designed to target firms with apparent ties to Washington powerbrokers, from cabinet officials to stock-trading lawmakers. Yet no major exchange has agreed to list it, according to Matt Tuttle, chief executive of Tuttle Capital.

Tuttle said the New York Stock Exchange ...