An $11.4 billion-AUM boutique asset manager in Illinois is entering the active ETF business, with the help of its publicly traded parent.

David Dean Grumhaus, Jr. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. President, Chief Investment Officer

Today David Grumhaus, Jr., president and chief investment officer of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co., and Bill Smalley, executive managing director of Virtus ETF Solutions, confirm the launch of the first Duff & Phelps-powered ETF: an actively managed, thematic equity fund called the Virtus Duff & Phelps Clean Every ETF (ticker VCLN on the NYSE). The new fund is advised by Virtus ETF Advisers LLC and subadvised by Chicago-based Duff & Phelps (which specializes in energy, infrastructure, and real estate investing and is a subsidiary of Hartford-based Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. [profile]).

The new ETF comes with an expense ratio of 59 basis points, thanks in part to a seven-bps fee waiver from Virtus. The waiver is scheduled to last at least through July 19, 2022.

Benjamin Bielawski and Eric Fogarty, managing directors at Duff & Phelps, PM the new fund. Service providers to the fund include: BNY Mellon (as accounting administrator, custodian, dividend paying agent, and transfer agent); Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (as independent accounting firm); Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP (as legal counsel); and Virtus' VP Distributors, LLC (as distributor).

Grumhaus puts the launch of the ETF in the context of "a major shift" he sees beginning in the energy and power sectors. Smalley lauds Duff & Phelps for its "rigorous investment process around energy infrastructure and clean energy" and describes the new fund as "a compelling, thematic equity strategy for the Virtus ETF suite." 

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