ETF Odds & Ends: Federated Hermes Jumps In

Notable Filings

Federated Hermes, an asset manager with $646 billion under its care, made a formal application into the ETF space by filing for two funds Thursday.

The ETFs are short-term corporate bonds, with one holding investment-grade securities and the other high yield notes. Neither of these strategies is adapted from an existing Federated Hermes mutual fund.

The Pittsburgh-based asset manager signaled its intent to enter the ETF space last June by hiring Brandon Clark as its head of ETFs. He spent 16 years at Vanguard, including three years as head of ETF capital markets for the asset manager juggernaut, and most recently led ETF product development at Franklin Templeton subsidiary Legg Mason.

VanEck Drops ‘Vector’ Brand Name

VanEck intends to drop the “Vector” brand name on most of its ETFs in early September. In a statement, the issuer said the move will give it consistent branding across its global portfolio of ETFs.

Index/Name Changes

The Xtrackers MSCI ACWI ex-USA ESG Leaders Equity ETF (ACSG) changed its name and ticker to the Xtrackers Emerging Markets Carbon Reduction and Climate Improvers ETF (EMCR). The fund also switched from the MSCI ACWI ex USA ESG Leaders Index to the Solactive ISS Emerging Markets Carbon Reduction & Climate Improvers Index.

The change was effective Wednesday.

Closures

The iPath S&P 500 Dynamic VIX ETN (XVZ) was called by its issuer and ceased trading on Tuesday.

Contact Dan Mika at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter