The folks at a Texas boutique are entering the ETF space by debuting their first two exchange-traded funds: a pair of actively managed, fixed income funds.

Leon Andrew "Andy" Wells SanJac Alpha LP Chief Investment Officer

Last week, Andy Wells, chief investment officer of SanJac Alpha LP [profile], unveiled the launch of the SanJac Alpha Core Plus Bond ETF (SJCP on the Nasdaq) and the SanJac Alpha Low Duration ETF (SJLD). The new ETFs' investment advisor is Houston-based SanJac Alpha, which is backed by Wells and by Saracen Energy, a nearby energy trading and investment firm.

SJLD comes with an expense ratio of 35 basis points, while SJCP's expense ratio is 65bps. The funds' inception date was September 10, and as of today (September 18, i.e. 8 days later) they had about $501,000 each in AUM.

Wells, former CIO of Saracen, serves as lead portfolio manager for both SJCP and SJLD. Andrey Vladyko, a SanJac PM who also previously hailed from Saracen, serves as the new funds' co-PM.

"We realize it can be difficult for investors to navigate the complexities of the volatile fixed income markets. Our approach, developed from our deep market expertise, aims to provide stable, risk-conscious returns through a powerful ETF platform," Wells states. "We believe the difference in these two products may be attractive to a variety of investors and by offering them as ETFs we just made accessing them even easier."

SJLD and SJCP are series of Manager Directed Portfolios. The new ETFs' other service providers included: Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. as counsel; ACA Foreside's Quasar Distributors, LLC as distributor; U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (dba U.S. Bank Global Fund Services) as administrator, dividend disbursing agent, fund accountant, and transfer agent; and U.S. Bank, N.A. as custodian and securities lending agent. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE