Westwood Makes ETF Push With New Platform, Filings
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Westwood Holdings Group, an $18 billion asset manager that tested the ETF waters earlier this year with two strategies, is ramping up plans to become a competitive player in the ETF space.
The Dallas-based manager of separate accounts and 13 mutual funds has developed a standalone entity, WEBs Investments, which will be run by ETF industry veteran Ben Fulton as chief executive and chief product officer.
In addition to the Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF (MDST) and the Westwood Salient Enhanced Energy Income ETF (WEEI), the development of which Fulton consulted on, Westwood has filed for two more ETFs that could be available by year end.
“When we look at industry and see what’s happening, ETFs without question represent one of the fastest growing products,” said Brian Casey, Westwood chief executive officer.
Westwood Expands ETF Efforts With Standalone Platform
Casey declined to talk about the ETFs still in registration but said Westwood’s expansion into the ETF space will not be about trying to compete on price or distribution against larger and more established companies.
“We will continue to look for white space in the ETF world,” he said.
The two ETFs in registration are the WEBs Defined Volatility SPY ETF and the WEBs Defined Volatility QQQ ETF, which Fulton described as “maybe one of the most innovative ideas I’ve had.”
Fulton, who has nearly three decades of experience in the ETF space, is credited with leading the Invesco PowerShares ETF business to the $80 billion mark in 2013, up from $200 million when he took over in 2006.
Through the WEBs Investment joint venture, Fulton said he will focus on strategies that address the kinds of issues that are keeping financial advisors up at night.
“What is the problem RIAs can’t address,” he said. “Of the few hundred ETFs I’ve built; I don’t think any were me-too products.”
In addition to rolling out new ETFs, Casey said Westwood is looking into possible ETF share classes for its existing mutual funds and potentially converting some of the mutual funds into ETFs.