Bay Street’s first cannabis ETF hasn’t been spared recently as regulatory uncertainty weighs on the sector. And now Horizons ETF Management is aiming to assuage concerns.

Mark Noble, senior vice president and head of sales strategy at Horizons ETF Management, told BNN via email the entire marijuana sector is being hit, not just its Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ).

“The whole space is being hammered so you’re either in it for the long haul or you’re not in it at all,” he wrote.  

Noble added in a memo to his staff that cannabis stocks will continue to feel pressure until key questions about Ottawa’s recent legislation -- such as where marijuana will be sold and which type of products will be approved for commercial distribution -- are answered.

“In the absence of these answers, marijuana stocks will likely continue to face challenges since there’s no clear way to gauge which companies will benefit from recreational marijuana opportunity until legislation is more clear,” he said in the memo. He added the selloff in the sector “could get much worse” without greater clarity on regulations, and that there will likely be a “comeback” ahead of regulatory announcements.

Noble told BNN there’s nothing specific driving the selloff in marijuana stocks, and pointed out HMMJ saw almost $922,000 in inflows last week amid the volatility.

“It’s all very reminiscent of other early stage industries such as early internet stocks and junior gold stocks,” he noted. “As we know there’s a lot of up and downs.”

HMMJ was launched in April, to coincide with Ottawa’s marijuana legislation.