Hartford Funds has launched two new actively managed exchange-traded funds, the Hartford Quality Bond ETF (NYSE: HQBD) and Hartford Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: HCOR). Sub-advised by Wellington Management, the funds offer core US fixed income strategies within ETF wrappers.
Vernon Meyer, Chief Investment Officer of Hartford Funds.
Hartford entered the ETF provider space in August 2016 with the acquisition of Lattice Strategies in a deal which included the adoption of the firm’s four multifactor ETFs. It has since built out the smart beta suite with the launch of the Lattice Real Estate Strategy ETF (NYSE: RORE), the first ETF to apply a multi-factor weighting strategy to a portfolio of REITs.
The latest fund launches represent Hartford’s first foray into actively managed ETFs.
Vernon Meyer, Chief Investment Officer of Hartford Funds, commented: “In response to advisors’ call for a broad range of investment options, we’ve decided to further diversify our ETF line-up and enter the actively managed ETF space with two fixed income products. By fusing our ETF capabilities with the investment skill of Wellington Management, we are looking to maximize the value Hartford Funds can offer to investors.”
The Hartford Quality Bond ETF seeks to maximize total return while providing a high level of current income. The fund is a conservative core bond fund with an emphasis on investment grade debt, including US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities. Its benchmark is the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index. It has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.39%.
The Hartford Corporate Bond ETF offers corporate bond exposure through a bottom-up strategy of predominantly investment grade corporate bonds and seeks to provide total return, with income as a secondary objective. The fund’s TER is 0.44%. Its benchmark is the Bloomberg Barclays US Corporate Bond Index.
Hartford’s suite of passively managed multifactor smart beta ETFs include the following funds:
Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (Ex US) ETF (NYSE: RODM)
Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF (NYSE: ROUS)
Hartford Multifactor Global Small Cap (NYSE: ROGS)
Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets (ROAM)
Hartford Multifactor Real Estate (NYSE: RORE)