The folks at a $5.596-billion-AUM (as of yesterday) fund firm in Gotham are teaming up to launch their first emerging markets fixed income ETF, and they're also preparing to launch a municipal bond fund.

Paul Sang Jin Kim Simplify Asset Management Inc. CEO, Co-Founder

This morning, David Berns, chief investment officer of Simplify Asset Management [profile], unveiled the debut of the Simplify Gamma Emerging Market Bond ETF (GAEM on the NYSE Arca). They also filed to launch the Simplify National Muni Bond ETF (NMB).

GAEM's inception date was yesterday, and it ended the day with $2.5 million in AUM. The new ETF's expense ratio is 76 basis points, which bakes in a 20bps fee waiver promised through October 31, 2025. NMB's expense ratio will be 52bps.

New York City-based Simplify will serve as investment advisor to both NMB and GAEM. San Juan, Puerto Rico-based Gamma Asset Management, LLC serves as subadvisor to GAEM, while New York City-based FCO Advisors, LP (Foundation Credit) will subadvise NMB.

GAEM's PM team includes: Simplify's Berns; Ken Miller, a Simplify portfolio manager; Manuel Pelayo Troncoso Acebal, CEO of Gamma; and Douglas Roman, CIO of Gamma. NMB's PM team will include: Berns; Hector Negroni, CEO of Foundation Credit; Sudar Purushothaman, partner at Foundation Credit; and Jeff Uenishi, senior vice president at Simplify.

NMB and GAEM will be both be actively managed series of Simplify Exchange Traded Funds.

The Simplify team notes that GAEM will focus specifically on debt issuers in Latin America. Berns puts the launch of the fund in the context of what he describes as "legacy passive vehicles" underpresenting "smaller economics, particularly among the Latin American nations."

"With GAEM, we've constructed an actively managed approach through which advisors and investors can access a range of under-followed securities with attractive yields," Berns states. "GAM will provide exposure across sovereigns, corporates, U.S. dollar and local currency bonds; and it's also worth noting that EM bonds from Latin America are issued under New York law, with identical protections as bonds from U.S.-based issuers."

GAEM and NMB's other service providers include: Bank of New York Mellon as administrator, custodian, dividend disbursing agent, fund accountant, and transfer agent; Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; ACA's Foreside Financial Services, LLC as distributor; Foreside Fund Officer Services, LLC as provider of a chief compliance officer; and Thompson Hine as counsel. 

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