A startup near Boston is entering the ETF space with one launch and prepping another. The new firm is specifically focused on the family office channel.

Zachary Carl "Zach" Wainwright Twin Oak ETF Company CEO

This morning, Zach Wainwright, CEO and principal owner of Twin Oak ETF Company [profile], unveiled the launch of his shop's first ETF, the Twin Oak Short Horizon Absolute Return ETF (TOAK on the NYSE Arca, Inc.). The team at the Wellesley, Massachusetts-based firm also filed to launch a second fund, the Twin Oak Active Opportunities ETF, without revealing that planned fund's ticker. Both funds will be actively managed series of Manager Directed Portfolios.

Twin Oak will serve as investment advisor to both funds, while Exchange Traded Concepts (ETC [profile]) will serve as subadvisor. Wainwright and Greg Stoner, managing director at Twin Oak, will PM both funds.

TOAK's inception date was August 19, and the fund comes with an expense ratio of 25 basis points (which bakes in a 20bps fee waiver promised for at least two years after launch). As of September 6 (Friday), the fund had $3.222 million in AUM.

The Twin Oak Active Opportunities ETF has not yet listed, and the filing does not reveal a ticker for the planned fund. It comes with an expense ratio of 99bps.

The planned Active Opportunities ETF will be designed to invest, both from a bottom-up and a top-down perspective, in a mix of individual equities, fixed income securities, and fixed income ETFs. TOAK, in contrast, is designed to use defined risk options (without leverage or selling unhedged options), specially mixing long calls, long puts, and debit spread options.

The Twin Oak team describes TOAK as being "built for family offices and tax sensitive investors." Wainwright calls the new fund "an easy-to-access investment vehicle that combines institutional quality portfolio management with the simplicity and tax efficiency of an ETF."

"Our goal at Twin Oak is to democratize access to innovative investment solutions," Wainwright states. "We work in partnership with families and tax sensitive investors to develop those strategies and unlock access to these institutional strategies in ETF form."

TOAK and the 2nd planned Twin Oak ETF will have several other service providers, including: Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. as counsel; PINE Distributors LLC as distributor; U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (dba U.S. Bank Global Fund Services) as administrator, chief compliance officer provider, dividend disbursing agent, fund accountant, and transfer agent; and U.S. Bank, N.A. as custodian and securities lending agent. 

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