While the mutual fund provider has filed an exemptive relief request for actively managed funds, the firm’s plans for index-based ETFs will be the next step in building its ETF business. [Legg Mason Is Considering Smart-Beta ETF Strategies]
The move into passive index-based ETFs comes as no surprise after the firm snagged two seasoned ETF experts from Vanguard earlier this year. Legg hired Rick Genoni and Brandon Clark to lead its ETF strategy back in February.
Legg Mason is just one of many mutual fund providers and money managers seeking to expand their presence in the financial space through ETFs. Active money managers are launching their own ETFs as demand from institutional investors, retail investors and financial advisors grow. For instance, T. Rowe Price Group, Principal Globlal Investors and Goldman Sachs Asset Management have all filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch ETFs. [Active Money Managers Jumping on the ETF Bandwagon]
For more information on new fund products, visit our new ETFs category.
Money managers who are looking into constructing their own ETFs may also be interested in attending the second annual ETF Boot Camp in New York later this month. Whether you’re an ETF start-up, fund company, broker dealer, pension plan, endowment, private equity firm, fund board independent director, 401k plan provider or ETF industry executive…this conference is designed for you. This one-of-a-kind event will condense everything you need to know about the inner workings of the ETF business into two days.
Max Chen contributed to this article.