Raymond James Investment Management on Thursday announced that its first three ETFs started trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
The initial suite of products from the Raymond James subsidiary were, it said, designed to provide advisors and investors access to strategies from Eagle Asset Management through the “transparent, tax-efficient and accessible ETF structure.”
The three ETFs are actively managed by investment teams at Eagle, a boutique manager of the Raymond James subsidiary.
“Raymond James Investment Management’s ETF platform launch is based on client demand and is in alignment with providing the firm’s highly coveted investment strategies through ETF structures,” Matt Johnson, Head of Product and Marketing for Raymond James Investment Management, told WSR by email.
“The firm’s unique connectivity to advisors has allowed it to carefully assess advisor needs and design an ideal initial suite of products to meet demand,” Johnson said. “Throughout the year, the firm has continued to tailor its ETF offerings through ongoing discussions and feedback from advisors, and it will continue to iterate its ETF pipeline based on future conversations.”
In a news release, Johnson said, “We are excited to introduce our initial, focused set of products to investors and financial advisors who are keen to access Eagle’s flagship income-focused investment capabilities through an ETF vehicle.”
He added, “These listings represent the foundation for a growing, tailored ETF platform that will complement Raymond James Investment Management’s existing family of mutual funds, separately managed accounts, CITs, UCITS, and institutional mandates.”
Three Strategies
The ETFs are RJ Eagle Vertical Income ETF (Ticker: RJVI), RJ Eagle GCM Dividend Select Income ETF (RJDI) and RJ Eagle Municipal Income ETF (RJMI), the firm said.
RJVI is a fixed income alternative that Raymond James said seeks to deliver diversified income and long-term capital appreciation through a flexible, multi-asset approach. It mainly allocates to investment-grade fixed income enhanced by preferred equity and dividend-paying equity securities, according to the firm.
RJVI is being managed by James Camp, Managing Director of Fixed Income and Strategic Income at Eagle, and Portfolio Co-Managers Brad Erwin and John Lagowski.
RJDI is a U.S. large-cap equity ETF focused on generating income and growth via companies with strong fundamentals and shareholder-friendly capital return policies, according to Raymond James. “The strategy blends top-down sector insights with bottom-up stock selection to build a diversified portfolio aligned with long-term economic and industry trends,” the firm said.
RJDI is being managed by Michael Gibbs, Managing Director and Lead Portfolio Manager at Eagle’s Gibbs Capital Management division, and Portfolio Co-Managers Richard Sewell and Joey Madere.
RJMI is an actively managed municipal fixed income ETF that Raymond James said “seeks to provide consistent, tax-advantaged income along with long-term capital appreciation.” The strategy stresses disciplined credit selection, risk-aware portfolio construction and diversification across the municipal yield curve, and mostly allocates to intermediate and long-term municipal fixed income bonds, the firm said.
RJMI is being managed by Camp and Portfolio Co-Manager Burt Mulford.
“As Raymond James Investment Management’s legacy boutique, Eagle has built a reputation for actively managing portfolios that focus on income generation through fixed income and dividend-paying equities, while successfully navigating shifts in market environments,” according to Susan Walzer, President of the firm’s Family of Funds.
“With today’s launch, we’re expanding access to the trusted strategies already run by Eagle’s portfolio managers in a more transparent and tax-efficient structure,” she said.
“We’re proud of our entry into the ETF space and constructed each of our inaugural ETFs to serve as a core holding in a client portfolio, or to fit as a dedicated allocation in a diversified model portfolio,” according to Johan Grahn, Head of ETFs at Raymond James Investment Management.
“The versatility and tradability of our ETFs make the portfolio implementation process simple,” Grahn said.
He added: “We look forward to launching more ETFs that represent some of our best ideas and most coveted investment strategies across our boutique investment firms in the coming months and years.”
Raymond James Investment Management manages $114.7 billion in client assets, according to the firm.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
