New exchange traded fund (ETF) provider Grail Advisors, which last month launched the first qualitative actively managed ETF, now has plans to expand its lineup even further this year.
The four ETFs being filed represent the industry’s first actively managed ETFs that take a single-manager approach. Grail’s first ETF, Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value (GVT), is managed by three veteran mutual fund and institutional subadvisors.
The four new funds are:
- RP Growth
- RP Focused Large Cap Growth
- RP Technology
- RP Financials
The goal, as with all actively managed ETFs, is to combine all the benefits of ETFs (low cost, transparency, tax efficiency and more) with the benefits of getting actively managed strategies from veteran stock pickers. Trading in the new funds is expected to begin on the NYSE Arca on Sept. 1.
RiverPark Advisors LLC will service as the primary sub-advisor for each of the funds.
William Thomas, Grail’s CEO, said they saw these four funds as the next step in the ETF evolution. “There’s been a tremendous amount of talk about who will have the first single manager active ETFs, so by doing this with RiverPark, we’ve done that.”
Morty Schaja, RiverPark’s CEO, comes from the world of mutual funds, but he’s not leaving the active management style behind.
“We’re trying to say we can deliver the actively managed formant, but with all the benefits people have grown to expect from ETFs,” Schaja says. In order to do that, RiverPark sought out managers who were willing to embrace full transparency and the disclosure of their ETF’s portfolio each evening.
Schaja says they wanted to walk before they run, so they’re starting off with relatively concentrated portfolios, relatively liquid holdings, manageable turnover of no more than 100% per year (as opposed to 300-400% a year).