First Trust Advisors has launched a new actively managed ETF, the First Trust TCW Securitized Plus ETF (DEED). The portfolio is sub-advised and managed by TCW Investment Management Company (TCW).The First Trust TCW Securitized Plus ETF seeks to maximise long-term total return by applying management expertise and allocating investments across a range of securitised asset classes. The fund will invest at least 50 per cent of its total assets in securities issued or guaranteed by the US government, its agencies or instrumentalities (such as Ginnie Mae), and US government-sponsored entities (such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). In addition, the fund may invest up to 50 per cent of its total assets in non-agency, non-government sponsored entity securities and privately-issued mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities including residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and CLOs (Private MBS/ABS). TCW’s management philosophy for securitised assets focuses on evaluating the underlying collateral and the ability to produce cash flows across multiple scenarios using a variety of tools and analysis techniques.
“TCW is proud of our deep and experienced securitised products team, and our many years of developing proprietary analytics and models for this complex asset class. Securitised markets show persistent inefficiencies that can be capitalised on for the benefit of investors through a disciplined research process and careful issue selection,” says Harrison Choi, Portfolio Manager at TCW. “The First Trust TCW Securitized Plus ETF builds on our successful and growing relationship with First Trust, and we are very pleased to have them as a partner.”
“We believe professional management for fixed income assets is more important than ever. This actively-managed ETF provides another tool for investment advisors to build portfolios for their clients, leveraging the best thinking of the world-class team at TCW,” says Ryan Issakainen, CFA, Senior Vice President, ETF Strategist at First Trust.
In addition to Harrison Choi, the fund’s portfolio management team from TCW includes Bryan T Whalen, CFA, Group Managing Director, Portfolio Manager; Scott Austin, CFA, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager and Mitchell Flack, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager. The portfolio managers are jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund.
