DeltaShares ETFs To Close

Transamerica Funds is shutting down its ETF offering, which currently consists of five funds with roughly $639 million in assets under management. The DeltaShares family will delist from the market after the close on April 7. 

Transamerica rolled out the first ETFs in its family of risk-managed ETFs in the summer of 2017. The DeltaShares S&P 500 Managed Risk ETF (DMRL) quickly became the largest fund in the family and was one of the biggest launches of 2017. It currently has $332 million in assets.  

The DeltaShares family of actively managed asset allocation ETFs all have similar features. They rely on volatility and correlations data—along with yield-to-maturity data—to adjust their allocations among a designated equity index, Treasuries and cash. The funds also use put options to further limit downside risk.  

The other four funds in the family include the following:

• DeltaShares S&P International Managed Risk ETF (DMRI)
• DeltaShares S&P 400 Managed Risk ETF (DMRM)
• DeltaShares S&P EM 100 & Managed Risk ETF (DMRE)
• DeltaShares S&P 600 Managed Risk ETF (DMRS)

When the first DeltaShares rolled out, insurers or their affiliates—such as John Hancock, Nationwide, Hartford Funds and USAA—were making inroads in the ETF space, with the idea that their customer base would find such products attractive, allowing the issuers to tap into the “Bring Your Own Assets” trend that has become prevalent in the ETF industry in recent years.  

Transamerica’s decision to close the DeltaShares is a bit of a surprise, given that it is very rare for funds with more than $100 million in assets to close. Yet two of the funds in the family have more than that benchmark amount.  

So far this year, the industry has seen 14 completed closures.  

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]