MutualFundWire.com: HW Finishes Building Its Debut ETF

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Wednesday, April 9, 2025

HW Finishes Building Its Debut ETF

The folks at a $33-billion-AUM, 45-year-old fund firm in Southern California have finished building their first ETF.

Scott Hoy McBride
Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management, LLC
CEO, Portfolio Manager

Yesterday (April 8), Scott McBride, CEO of Hotchkis & Wiley [profile], and Ryan Thomes, a Hotchkis & Wiley portfolio manager, unveiled the launch of the Hotchkis & Wiley SMID-Cap Diversified Value Fund (HWSM on the Nasdaq). The Los Angeles-based asset manager's team previously filed to create the ETF, and now they've confirmed that it comes with an expense ratio of 55 basis points and that Deloitte & Touche LLP serves as independent accounting firm.

HWSM's inception date was March 31. As of yesterday, it had more than $1 million in AUM.

McBride puts the launch of HWSM in the context of his team's "commitment to meet the evolving needs of ... clients."

"Our approach is built on identifying undervalued companies with strong fundamentals that are often overlooked," Thomes states. "By combining our proprietary quantitative tools with the expertise of our research team, we aim to deliver a portfolio that captures the intrinsic value of these businesses, providing investors with a unique opportunity for long-term growth."

As previously reported, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management, LLC serves as HWSM's investment advisor, and the new fund's PM team includes Thomes and Judd Peters. Also as previously reported, HWSM is an actively managed series of Hotchkis & Wiley Funds, and the new ETF's other service providers include:

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH) as securities lending agent;

ACA Foreside's Quasar Distributors, LLC as distributor;

U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (dba U.S. Bank Global Fund Services) as administrator, fund accountant, and transfer agent;

U.S. Bank N.A. as custodian; and

Vedder Price P.C. as counsel.