The team at a Midwestern, multi-manager mutual fund firm is entering the thematic ETF space.

Edward Blake Moore, Jr. Touchstone Investments CEO

Last Friday, Blake Moore, president and CEO of Touchstone Investments [profile], unveiled the launch of the Touchstone Climate Transition ETF (HEAT on the Cboe BZX). The new fund is Touchstone's fifth active ETF and its first ever thematic ETF.

HEAT is a series of the Touchstone ETF Trust. Its inception date was April 28, and it began trading on May 2. The new fund's expense ratio is 69 basis point (including a 48-bps fee waiver promised through April 29, 2024).

Touchstone Advisors, Inc. serves as HEAT's administrator and investment advisor. Lombard Odier Asset Management (USA) Corp. (dba Lombard Odier Investment Managers) serves as the fund's subadvisor. And Lombard Odier's Peter Burke-Smith and Paul Udall serve as the fund's assistant portfolio manager and lead PM, respectively.

Moore puts the launch of HEAT in the context of Touchstone's goal of providing investors access to "Distinctively Active" institutional strategies that are world-class. Matt Barry, vice president of product management and head of capital markets at Touchstone, adds that Touchstone's subadvised approach lets them partner with "best-in-breed asset managers in a variety of asset classes." (Lombard Odier is Touchstone's 15th subadvisor ally.)

"With interest in both thematic and sustainable investing on the rise, the Climate Transition ETF seeks to provide advisers and the investors they serve with an opportunity to better position investment portfolios and meet long-term goals," Moore states.

"We are excited to partner with a manager who truly understands the opportunities being created by the climate transition," Barry states. "We believe Lombard Odier IM's forward-looking focus on the climate transition, integrated sustainability and investment research and disciplined processes provide the differentiated expertise needed to help our clients navigate this theme."

"The transition to a net-zero and climate-resilient world is one of the greatest challenges — and investment opportunities — of our time," Udall states, noting that Touchstone and Lombard Odier "have a shared prioritization of actively managed strategies that create opportunities for investors amid the climate transition."

HEAT's other service providers include: Bank of New York Mellon as securities lending agent, subadministrator, and transfer agent; Ernst & Young LLP as independent accounting firm; Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; and K&L Gates as counsel. 

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