MutualFundWire.com: In FL, a $1.9B-AUM RIA Enters the ETF Biz

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Thursday, May 15, 2025

In FL, a $1.9B-AUM RIA Enters the ETF Biz

The folks at a 28-year-old, 20-person, $1.867-billion-AUM (as of December 31) RIA in Central Florida are teaming up with an ETF-in-a-box shop near Philadelphia to enter the ETF space.

Yesterday (May 14), Dan McNichol, president of Suncoast Equity Management, LLC, unveiled the launch of the Suncoast Select Growth ETF (SEMG on the NYSE Arca). Tampa-based Suncoast serves as SEMG's sponsor and subadvisor, while Havertown, Pennsylvania-based Empowered Funds, LLC (dba EA Advisers and ETF Architect) serves as investment advisor.

SEMG's inception date was Tuesday (May 13), and it comes with an expense ratio of 60 basis points. As of today, the new fund has $250,000 in AUM.

Donald Jowdy, founder and chief investment officer of Suncoast, and Amy Lord, senior vice president and co-portfolio manager, serve as SEMG's PM team. The new ETF is powered by SEM Disciplined Investment System (SEM-DIS), Suncoast's bottom-up, fundamental approach to investing in stocks.

McNichol describes Suncoast as entering "an exciting new chapter."

"This ETF allows us to expand access to a time-tested strategy, reaching a wider range of institutional and intermediary partners while staying true to the disciplined approach that has defined our firm for nearly 30 years," McNichol states. "As ETFs continue to become a core component of financial advisors' portfolio construction, this launch helps deepen our ability to serve both existing and future clients."

SEMG is an actively managed, non-diversified series of the EA Series Trust (fka the Alpha Architect Series Trust). The new ETF's other service providers include:

Practus, LLP as counsel;

ACA Foreside's Quasar Distributors, LLC as distributor;

Tait, Weller & Baker LLP as independent accounting firm;

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

U.S. Bank N.A. as custodian and securities lending agent.