(City Wire USA) - Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) has carried out its second wave of mutual fund conversions, bringing its total number of converted ETFs to six and its ETF assets to over $40bn.
The Austin, Texas-based firm made waves in June when it completed its first four conversions, creating a new suite of ETFs with nearly $30bn in assets.
DFA’s two latest ETFs are non-US offerings: its $3.51 billion International Value ETF and its $4.59 billion World ex US Core Equity 2 ETF.
The firm also launched three core equity ETFs last year ahead of its conversions, which it says positions it among the top issuers of active transparent ETFs.
‘With the conversion of two more mutual funds, Dimensional Funds is quickly climbing the US ETF leader board for assets under management, passing Fidelity and Global X to be the 12th largest provider,’ said Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research for CFRA. ‘However, as a newer firm, Dimensional Funds still needs to build brand awareness as more established firms are likely to grow faster organically.’
DFA also is pledging to move forward with additional offerings, and has fixed-income ETFs in the works for later this year.
‘Today’s listing further demonstrates our commitment to providing the financial professionals we work with a full suite of ETFs that complement our mutual fund and expanded separately managed accounts offerings,’ said Dimensional Co-CEO and CIO Gerard O’Reilly in a statement. ‘Our strategies go beyond the cost efficiency and high diversification of passive indexing. They have the added benefits of daily, flexible implementation, which aim to deliver higher expected returns and support robust risk management.’
The firm had $660bn under management worldwide at the end of June.
Guinness Atkinson was the first firm to convert mutual funds to ETFs, followed shortly by DFA. Last month, JP Morgan announced plans to convert about $10bn worth of assets in mutual funds into active ETFs
