Bespoke exchange traded fund provider ETF Managers Group, or ETFMG, has changed the names of six ETFs within its ETF Managers Series Trust, renaming the funds with the ETFMG appellation after a fracas with its original partner, PureFunds.
Effective August 1, six ETFs that originally had the PureFunds moniker have been changed to ETFMG, including:
- ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (NYSEArca: HACK)
- ETFMG Prime Mobile Payments ETF (NYSEArca: IPAY)
- ETFMG Prime Junior Silver ETF (NYSEArca: SILJ)
- ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF (NYSEArca: GAMR)
- ETFMG Drone Economy Strategy ETF (NYSEArca: IFLY)
- ETFMG ETFx HealthTech ETF (NasdaqGM: IMED)
According to a statement from ETF Managers Group, Kris Monaco and Prime Indexes, his new company, are also providing new underlying indices on HACK, IPAY and SILJ as well.
Monaco is attributed as the originator of the ideas that fell under the PureFunds suite of ETFs, including the highly successful HACK. Andrew Chanin of PureFunds was engaged by Kris Monaco, the head of the ISE ETF Venture group at the time, to help ISE bring new ideas to market.
Related: ETF Performance Report: July 2017
ETFMG claims PureFunds violated certain agreements that forced the ETF issuer to terminate the partnership. PureFunds is contesting the termination.
“At a board meeting in April of this year, the board tasked with overseeing HACK approved a reduction in the fund’s management fee from 0.75% to 0.60% effective May 1, 2017, in a move meant to benefit shareholders and better align the fund with its competitive landscape. Also on May 1, 2017, Mr. Chanin initiated legal action against ETF Managers Group challenging the fee reduction. The same court has twice rejected his claims in hearings on the matter,” according to the ETFMG statement.
ETFMG previously announced the closure of the PureFunds Solactive FinTech ETF (NasdaqGM: FINQ) and PureFunds ISE Big Data ETF (NYSEArca: BIGD), which stopped trading July 31.
For more information on the ETF industry, visit our current affairs category.