Yet another firm, California-based Wealthfront, seeks to join the ETF juggernaut.
Wealthfront, a collection of Palo Alto, Calif.-based firms in the money management business, filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to gain regulatory permission to market actively managed ETFs focused on equity and fixed income.
The company said it hopes to one day launch equity and fixed-income funds, or funds that combine the two asset classes and that focus on U.S. as well as international securities. It said the first of its funds is likely to be a foreign equity fund that seeks long-term capital growth.
The company’s so-called exemptive relief filing is the latest to be filed at the SEC, and the second one in a week. Last week, Maine-based Forum Investment Advisors filed to gain permission to offer actively managed ETFs, the first one a fund focused largely on fixed-income securities.
Exemptive relief filings grant ETF firms exception to sections of the Investment Act of 1940 and are just the first step in the path to launching ETFs. It often takes at least six to 12 months from the date of the initial filing for a company’s first ETF to hit the market.
The applicants listed on the Wealthfront filing include Wealthfront Inc., the advisor; Wealthfront Brokerage Corp; and Wealthfront ETF Trust.