The team at a $187-billion-AUMS (as of October 31) fund firm is rolling out an active cord bond fund.

Ryan O. Issakainen First Trust Portfolios L.P. Senior Vice President, ETF Strategist

Last week, Ryan Issakainen, senior vice president and ETF strategist at First Trust [profile], unveiled the launch of the First Trust Core Investment Grade ETF (FTCB on the NYSE Arca). The new fund is a series of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV.

FTCB's inception date was November 7, and it comes with an expense ratio of 55 basis points. As of market close on Friday, November 10, the new ETF had about $15 million in AUM.

First Advisors L.P. serves as FTCB's investment advisor, and First Trust Portfolios L.P. serves as distributor. The new fund's PM team includes: Owen Aronson, vice president and portfolio manager; Jeremiah Charles, senior vice president and senior portfolio manager; Todd Larson, SVP and senior PM; Nathan Simons, VP and PM; Scott Skowronski, VP and PM; and Jim Snyder, SVP and senior PM.

Issakainen describes the launch of FTCB as an expansion of "First Trust's robust lineup of actively managed fixed income ETFs." First Trust now offers 16 taxable fixed income ETFs in total.

"The last few years have illustrated how critical risk management is for fixed income investments," Issakainen states. "We're confident in the expertise and skill of FTCB's portfolio management team which seeks to produce better risk-adjusted returns than passive benchmarks."

FTCB's other service providers include: Bank of New York Mellon as administrator, custodian, dividend disbursing agent, fund accounting agent, and transfer agent; Chapman and Cutler LLP as counsel; and Deloitte & Touche LLP as independent accounting firm. 

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