A fixed income asset management startup with more than $80 million in AUM (as of its November 2021 form ADV) is entering the ETF space. (The firm already offers CITs and SMAs.)

John L. Ruth Build Asset Management, LLC President, CEO, Co-Founder

Last week, John Ruth, co-founder and CEO of Build Asset Management, LLC [profile], and Matt Dines, co-founder and chief investment officer, unveiled the Jefferson City, Missouri- and Seattle, Washington-based firm's first ETF: the BUILD Bond Innovation ETF (BFIX on the NYSE Arca, Inc.). The new, non-diversified, actively managed ETF of ETFs is the first series of the Build Funds Trust. It launched on February 9 and now has more than $27 million in AUM.

Dines will PM the new fund. The idea is for the fund to typically have the bulk of its assets in fixed income and the remainder in an active options overlay on U.S. large-cap equities.

The new fund comes with an expense ratio of 50 basis points.

"We designed BFIX with the voice of the American retiree and traditional bond investor in mind," Ruth states. "These investors often wonder how they can achive meaningful returns with a defensive mindset."

Dines puts the launch in the context of bond investors' current "risk versus return conundrum."

"Our approach combines active fixed income management, an equity options overlay, and a rules-based trading framework that seeks repeatable outcomes," Dines states.

The new fund's other service providers include: Cohen & Company, Ltd. as independent accounting firm; Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; Thompson Hine LLP as counsel; U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC as administrator and transfer agent; and U.S. Bank, N.A. as custodian. 

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