Allspring Global Investments, an asset manager with $570 billion in assets under advisement, will begin offering active ETFs. The firm currently manages $423 billion in fixed income and money market assets, $135 billion in equity assets and $12 billion in multi assets.
“We believe the active ETF industry will continue to evolve and we are taking a thoughtful approach, evaluating expansion opportunities across strategies managed by our investment teams with strong track records and deep investment experience,” company executives said. in a statement.
Allspring declined to comment further.
Rick Genoni, Allspring's global head of product development and innovation, will lead its efforts to expand into the ETF space. Prior to joining Allspring in 2022, Genoni worked as head of global ETF strategy and strategic relationships at Franklin Templeton and as head of ETF product management at Legg Mason. Allspring also plans to recruit executives to lead its ETF capital markets and ETF operations.
Additionally, this week Allspring filed an application with the SEC for exemptive relief to offer a dual equity mutual fund/ETF asset class. The company's portfolio includes a large number of mutual funds, ranging from Allspring Disciplined US Core Inst, which has returned 18.24% year-to-date to Allspring Managed Acct CoreBuilder CP, with a year-to-date return of 0.77%, according to Morningstar data.
In filing for free relief to offer dual equity mutual funds/ETFs, the company joins a growing list of asset managers interested in pursuing that strategy which until now has been exclusively available to Vanguard, which has patented the strategy. The patent has now expired, and asset managers that have filed similar claims with Allspring include PGIM, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Dimensional Fund Advisors, among others. Asset managers believe that offering dual equity mutual funds/ETFs would give them access to new client groups while offering scale and tax efficiency.