The teams at a 5-year-old, $7.183-billion-AUM (as of May 1, 2025, i.e. yesterday) fund firm and a Midwestern bank's asset management arm are teaming up to roll out a new active equity income fund.

David Marc Berns Simplify Asset Management Inc. CIO, Co-Founder

On Tuesday (April 29), David Berns, chief investment officer and co-founder of Simplify Asset Management [profile], unveiled the launch of the Simplify Piper Sandler US Small-Cap PLUS Income ETF (LITL on the NYSE Arca, Inc.). Simplify serves as the new ETF's investment advisor, while Piper Sandler & Co. serves as subadvisor.

LITL's inception date was Monday (April 28), and the fund comes with an expense ratio of 91 basis points. As of yesterday, it had about $2.506 million in AUM.

The new fund's PM team incldues:

Stephen Gregory, head of quantitative research at Piper Sandler;

Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist and head of portfolio strategy at Piper Sandler; and

Berns himself.

"Small cap equities can enjoy periods of strong growth but have always been more sensitive to the economic cycle than large cap stocks," Berns states. "Piper Sandler's unique economic overlay seeks to add value by selecting the stocks that are best positioned to succeed in the current environment, while providing investors with current income."

LITL is an actively managed, non-diversified series of Simplify Exchange Traded Funds. The new ETF's other service providers include:

Bank of New York Mellon, administrator, custodian, dividend disbursing agent, fund accountant, shareholder servicing agent, and transfer agent;

Cohen & Company, Ltd., independent accounting firm;

ACA's Foreside Financial Services, LLC as distributor; and

Thompson Hine LLP as counsel.

 

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