Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), the mutual fund manager that recently hired bond legend Bill Gross, is making a foray into the exchange traded products industry with its $30 million acquisition of VelocityShares.
Founded in 2009, VelocityShares is managed by Nick Cherney, Richard Hoge and Steve Quinn. The firm, which had $2.12 billion in assets under management as of Oct. 10, is best known for its lineup of volatility exchange traded notes (ETNs). Those ETNs include the $335.3 million VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short Term ETN (NYSEArca: TVIX) and the $773.6 million VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (NYSEArca: XIV). [VIX ETFs for Volatile Markets]
“This acquisition positions Janus within the rapidly growing rules-based and active ETF universe, enhancing the customized solutions we can provide to our clients and enabling us to work with the growing segment of financial advisors and institutions focused on these instruments,” said Richard M. Weil, Chief Executive Officer of Janus Capital Group, in a statement. “Today’s announcement is a continuation of our strategy of intelligent diversification, adding new talent to support innovation and smart solutions for our clients. We are excited to have the VelocityShares team join our organization, and we are confident their expertise and product innovation capabilities will be beneficial to our clients and shareholders.”
Shares of Denver-based Janus are trading slightly lower following news of the VelocityShares acquisition. The deal is expected to be completed this quarter. On Sept. 26, Janus announced the hiring of Gross, who is managing the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund and related strategies.
Janus had nearly $178 billion in assets under management at the end of the second quarter.