The folks at a 40-year-old boutique in Southern California are entering the ETF space, with help from their publicly traded parent fund firm in the Northeast.

George Robert Aylward Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. President, CEO

Last month (on October 16), Bill Smalley, executive managing director of ETF solutions at Hartford, Connecticut-based Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. [profile], and Jon Christensen, portfolio manager and senior research analyst at Virtus' Kayne Anderson Rudnick (KAR), unveiled the launch of the Virtus KAR Mid-Cap ETF (KMID on the NYSE Arca, Inc.), the first ETF powered by KAR. Los Angeles-based KAR Invesmtent Management, LLC serves as subadvisor of the new ETF, while Virtus ETF Advisers LLC serves as investment advisor. The launch expands Virtus' multi-manager ETF platform to 19 ETFs in total.

KMID's inception date was October 15, and it comes with an expense ratio of 80 basis points. As of yesterday (Thursday, October 31), the new, actively managed fund had $3.067 million in AUM.

The PM team for KMID includes Christensen and Craig Stone, co-chief investment officer, PM, and senior research analyst at KAR.

Christensen describes mid cap equities as the "'sweet spot' between faster-growing small caps and less-volatile large caps."

"Investors whose portfolios do not have dedicated exposure to mid-cap equities may be missing out on the growth potential of this compelling segment," Christensen states.

Smalley lauds KAR for "extending to investors its well-known active management capabilities in a transparent and tax-efficient structure that adds value to their stock selection process by selecting what they consider to be quality mid-sized businesses with strong growth prospects." (Virtus is no stranger to helping boutiques enter the ETF space over the last decade.

"We are excited to launch the first ETF managed by Kayne, which has been delivering high-quality investment strategies for 40 years," Smalley states.

KMID is a series of Virtus ETF Trust II. The new ETF's other service providers include: the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as administrator, custodian, dividend paying agent, and transfer agent; PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accounting firm; Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP as counsel; and VP Distributors, LLC as distributor. 

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