Behavioral economist Dan Ariely and his team are partnering up for a third time with a Midwestern mutual fund firm.

Kristof Marius Gleich Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. President, Chief Investment Officer

Last week, Kristof Gleich, president and chief investment officer of Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. [profile], and David van Adelsberg, co-founder and partner at Irrational Capital LLC, unveiled the launch of the Harbor Corporate Culture Small Cap ETF (HAPS on the NYSE Arca, Inc.). The new fund is a series of the Harbor ETF Trust.

HAPS' inception date was April 12, and it comes with an expense ratio of 64 basis points. As of yesterday, the new fund had $1.889 million in AUM.

Harbor serves as HAPS' investment advisor, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) serves as index provider. The new fund is designed to track the Human Capital Factor Small Cap Index, and Irrational Capital (of which Ariely is a co-founder) developed the proprietary scoring methodology for identifying components of that index. Harbor's Stephen Cook, managing director of ETFs, and James Erceg, executive vice president and head of product, will PM the new fund.

The launch of HAPS comes about six months after the launch of Harbor's 2nd corporate culture ETF (which has grown to $238 million in AUM) and about 14 months after the launch of Harbor's 1st corporate culture ETF (which has grown to $10 million in AUM). (Irrational Capital also teamed up with Harbor on those two ETFs.) The new fund is the first in the trio to focus on small caps.

Adelsberg explains the logic behind Irrational Capital's methodology powering these funds' indexes.

"A high-performance work culture is a powerful competitive advantage, particularly in an environment where recruiting and retaining talent is among the top challenges facing companies," Adelsberg states. "Harbor's growing suite of corporate culture ETFs provide investors with an opportunity to tap into an often-overlooked catalyst for growth."

Like with Harbor's earlier corporate culture ETFs, HAPS' other service providers include: Ernst & Young LLP as independent accounting firm; Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; and State Street Bank and Trust Company as custodian, dividend disbursing agent, and transfer agent. 

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