The folks at a PE-backed, $138-billion-AUM (as of June 30) asset manager in Gotham are teaming up to enter the ETF space. Stay tuned for more details on the planned dual launch.

Mehdi Asif Mahmud First Eagle Investment Management, LLC President, CEO

Late last month (September 25), Mehdi Mahmud, president and CEO of First Eagle Investments [profile], and Steve Plump, CEO of the RBB Fund Complex, revealed that the RBB team is helping the First Eagle team to prepare to launch First Eagle's first two ETFs: the First Eagle Global Equity ETF, and the First Eagle Overseas Equity ETF. New York City-based First Eagle Investment Management, LLC will serve as investment advisor to both ETFs, while Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (ETC) will serve as subadvisor, and both ETFs will be actively managed, diversified series of the RBB Fund Trust.

The public statement from Plump and Mahmud does not reveal when the two planned First Eagle ETFs will launch, nor does First Eagle's September 25 filing include a launch date. However, the filing does indicate that the First Eagle team plans to roll the funds out by the end of the year.

The First Eagle team also may still have a couple of other decisions to make before the two ETFs debut. The filing does not include planned expense ratios or tickers for either ETF, nor does the filing identify who will serve as the ETFs' indepenent accounting firm.

Mahmud calls First Eagle's move into ETF world "a response to customers' requests over the last few years."

"Active ETFs have become an important component of how our clients construct portfolios," Mahmud states. "We anticipate our active ETFs will be embraced just as positively by clients as our mutual funds and separately managed accounts have been."

Plump puts RBB's work with First Eagle in the context of the RBB team's goal "to provide asset managers with the tools and support they need to thrive in the ETF market."

"We are thrilled to be working with First Eagle as they expand their offerings," Plump states. "First Eagle's expertise in active management is well aligned with demand trends in the ETF space, and we look forward to helping drive their success."

The portfolio manager team for both planned ETFs will include: Kimball Booker, Jr., co-head of First Eagle's global value team; Adrian Joes, a member of that global value team; and Matthew McLennan, co-head of that team. Julien Albertini and Manish Gupta, two other global value team members, will also help PM the First Eagle Global Equity ETF. And global value team members Alan Barr and Christian Heck will help PM the First Eagle Overseas Equity ETF.

Other service providers for the First Eagle ETFs will be: Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath as counsel; ACA's Quasar Distributors, LLC as distributor and underwriter; U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (dba U.S. Bank Global Fund Services) as administrator, dividend disbursing aget, and transfer agent; and U.S. Bank, N.A. as custodian. 

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