Daily ETF Watch: Magoon Launches Amplify

Christian Magoon, who was president of Claymore Securities through its acquisition by Guggenheim Investments and has since founded Amplify Investments, has launched his own ETF brand, Amplify Exchange Traded Funds, a press release said. The company will provide a full range of services to other firms looking to issue ETFs, with its affiliate Amplify Development offering “strategic support” to firms that are looking to launch ETFs but have their own exemptive relief and brand.

Since leaving Guggenheim, Magoon has worked as a consultant on ETF development through his firm Magoon Capital and also launched YieldShares LLC, an ETF issuer with one fund currently trading, the $71 million YieldShares High Income ETF (YYY). The press release noted that YieldShares would be folded into Amplify Investments.

Amplify already has one ETF in registration, the Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY), which will list on the Nasdaq stock exchange. According to the prospectus, the fund will track a global index of companies that generate at least 70% of their revenue from online retail transactions that fall into three categories—traditional online retail; online travel; and online marketplace. The fund will use a modified equal-weighting approach. IBUY is slated to come with an expense ratio of 0.65%.

The press release also noted that Amplify’s first ETF, presumably IBUY, is expected to launch in March 2016, and that Amplify Development inked its first deal in the last quarter of 2015.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].