A $134-billion-AUM (as of December 31), employee-owned fund firm is directly entering the ETF space with a new hire and its first two proprietary ETFs.

Scott Thomson DoubleLine Group LP ETF Specialist

Today, Ron Redell, president of DoubleLine [profile], unveils the new DoubleLine ETF Trust and the trust's first two ETFs, the DoubleLine Opportunistic Bond ETF (DBND) and the DoubleLine Shiller CAPE U.S. Equities ETF (DCPE). Also today, Jeffrey Sherman, deputy chief investment officer of DoubleLine, confirms that Scott Thomson recently joined the now-Tampa, Florida-based firm as an ETF specialist.

Orange County, California-based Thomson started at DoubleLine back in January after more than a decade at Pimco, where he rose to senior associate of product strategy. At DoubleLine, he joins the macro asset allocation team, which is led by Sherman. Thomson will oversee DoubleLine's ETF business and manage the creation and launch of its ETF capital markets function.

Sherman lauds Thomson for having "significant experience within the fixed income and equity markets" and for giving DoubleLine "significant depth within the inner workings of the ETF ecosystem."

"Entry into the ETF business is a natural extension of DoubleLine's existing business lines and gives investors another vehicle to access our investment services via the ETF wrapper," Sherman states.

As for DBND and DCPE, they will launch next Tuesday on the NYSE Arca. DBND comes with an expense ratio of 50 basis points, while DCPE's expense ratio is 65 bps.

"We are devoted to the clients who count on our existing investment vehicles, including mutual funds, other pooled-capital vehicles and separate accounts, while remaining open to new vehicles that win public endorsement," Redell states. "Actively managed ETFs are no longer a niche option among '40 Act funds."

"In fact, active ETFs are well on their way to becoming a mainstay for many investors and advisors," Redell adds. "We have formed the DoubleLine ETF Trust to serve them with a suite of actively managed ETFs, starting with DBND and DCPE."

DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP will serve as investment advisor to the two new funds, and Sherman and DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach will PM the funds. (Sherman also serves as president of DoubleLine ETF Adviser.)

The new funds' other service providers include: Deloitte & Touche LLP as independent accounting firm; Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; J.P. Morgan Chase, N.A. as administrator, custodian, and transfer agent; and Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP as legal counsel.

Though the two new funds will be the first ETFs in the new trust, DoubleLine is no stranger to the ETF business. The firm has done subadvisory ETF work for SSGA for seven years and currently subadvises three SSGA ETFs.

As for Thomson, he joined Pimco as an analyst back in 2011. Before that, he worked in similar roles at Harvey & Company and Harvest Capital Group. He is an alumnus of Chapman University. 

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