A $77.5-billion-AUM (as of December 31), publicly traded fund firm recently powered on another thematic, passively managed ETF, this time focused on "battery and energy storage solutions," or BESS for short.

Jonathan Laurence "Jono" Steinberg WisdomTree Investments, Inc. CEO

Last month, Jeremy Schwartz, global chief investment officer of WisdomTree Investments, Inc. [profile], unveiled the new WisdomTree Battery Value Chain and Innovation Fund (WBAT on the CBOE). WisdomTree is index provider for the fund, which is a series of the WisdomTree Trust and is designed to track the WisdomTree Battery Value Chain and Innovation Index (WTBAT).

The new fund, which comes with an expense ratio of 45 basis points, debuted on February 17 and had about $2 million in AUM as of yesterday. The launch comes two years after the WisdomTree team launched a similar offering, the WisdomTree Battery Solutions UCITS ETF (VOLT), on European exchanges; that UCITS ETF had grown to $541 million in AUM as of February 14.

Schwartz puts the launch of WBAT in the context of rising renewable energy demand boosting demand for electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

WisdomTree Asset Management is WBAT's investment advisor, while Mellon Investments Corporation is the subadvisor. The fund is PMed by five members of Mellon's equity index strategies portfolio management team, including equity index portfolio management chief Marlene Walker-Smith and four vice presidents: David France, Todd Frysinger, Vlasta Sheremeta, and Michael Stoll.

The new fund's other service providers include: Ernst & Young, LLP as independent accounting firm; Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as counsel; and State Street Bank and Trust Company as administrator, custodian, securities lending agent, and transfer agent. 

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