Fifteen years after departing the exchange traded funds industry, Nuveen Investments is on track to return after the Securities and Exchange Commission granted the Chicago-based firm permission to sell ETFs.
Earlier this week, the SEC said it is likely to approve plans by Nuveen for some actively managed ETFs. An order granting the application will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing, according to the SEC.
Nuveen “first asked for permission to offer index-based ETFs in 2000, at the time developing proposals for what could have been the very first bond ETFs. Those products now enjoy tremendous popularity — ETFs are a $3 trillion market globally,” reports Trevor Hunnicutt for InvestmentNews, which broke the story on the SEC potentially clearing the way of Nuveen’s ETF return.
What has gone relatively unnoticed is that Nuveen has been other steps to get back into the ETF game. Last month, the firm said shareholders of the Nuveen Long/Short Commodity Total Return Fund (NYSEArca: CTF), have approved the plan to convert the fund into open-ended exchange-traded fund (ETF). The conversion plan is also contingent on customary regulatory approvals, according to a statement.
“The Annual Meeting of Shareholders for the Nuveen Diversified Commodity Fund (NYSE: CFD) has been adjourned to June 15, 2015, to allow additional solicitation of votes on the proposed plan to convert the fund into an ETF,” according to Nuveen.