| 1. | a person who vouches or is responsible for a person or thing. |
| 2. | a person, firm, organization, etc., that finances and buys the time to broadcast a radio or television program so as to advertise a product, a political party, etc. |
| 3. | a person who makes a pledge or promise on behalf of another. |
| 4. | a person who answers for an infant at baptism, making the required professions and assuming responsibility for the child's religious upbringing; godfather or godmother. |
| 5. | to act as sponsor for; promise, vouch, or answer for. |
Sponsor
1. In the context of stocks, an influential investor who creates demand for a security because of their positive outlook on it.
2. In the context of mutual funds, an underwriting company that offers shares in its mutual funds.
3. In the context of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the fund manager or other entity who files the needed regulatory materials with the SEC to create an ETF. The sponsor also solicits and approves an authorized participant to create and redeem ETF shares.
Investopedia Commentary
1. Many investors look for wide sponsorship in a stock before investing, believing that the endorsement of well-known investors add a measure of safety to their investment decisions.
2. An underwriter must sponsor a mutual fund issue for investors to have access to it.
3. The sponsor of an ETF is essentially the managerial body of the ETF and brings together the needed parties and regulatory framework to establish the ETF.
Related Links
Mutual Fund Basics Tutorial
Introduction To Exchange-Traded Funds
Three Kinds Of Analysts And What You Need To Know About Them
An Inside Look At ETF Construction
See also: Authorized Participant, Exchange-Traded Fund, Mutual Fund, Redemption, Underwriting
sponsor
An institutional investor or a brokerage firm that has a position in a security and influences other investors to establish a position in that security.
See underwriter.
sponsor
one who stands surety for another in the rite of Christian baptism. In the modern baptism of an infant or child the godparent or godparents make profession of faith for the person being baptized (the godchild) and assume an obligation to serve as proxies for the parents if the parents either are unable or neglect to provide for the religious training of the child, in fulfillment of baptismal promises. In churches mandating a sponsor only one godparent is required; two (in most churches, of different sex) are permitted. Many Protestant denominations permit but do not require godparents to join the infant's natural parents as sponsors. In the Roman Catholic Church godparents must be of the Catholic faith.
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