VanEck Adds 2 Corporate Bond ETFs: Portfolio Products

The Board of a Nottingham-administered series trust approved the conversion, the firm says. The initial fund will be managed by Adaptive Investments and is expected to convert in January, with additional funds under the same group to follow shortly after that, it notes.

At meetings held on Sept. 24 and Oct. 8 and via "written consent in lieu of a meeting" Oct. 23, the Board of Trustees of the Starboard Investment Trust approved the reorganization of the Adaptive Growth Opportunities Fund into an ETF, according to an SEC filing. A prospectus filed with the SEC details plans for the Adaptive Growth Opportunities Fund with planned total annual operating expenses of 1.55%.

"Over the last two to three years, there has probably been more speculation and discussion regarding the conversion of open-end mutual funds to ETFs than any other subject in the ETF industry," according to Kip Meadows, Nottingham CEO and founder.

"The non-transparent ETF developments are important as well and interrelated in many cases," he says, adding: "With the combination of both options now available, we expect a large number of mutual funds to convert to ETFs in the coming years."

Amplify ETFs Introduces Gold-Focused ETF

Amplify ETFs has launched the Amplify Pure Junior Gold Miners ETF (JGLD, 0.49%, NYSE Arca), an index-based ETF made up of companies engaged in junior and exploratory gold mining.

JGLD seeks investment results that correspond generally to the EQM Pure Junior Gold Miners Index. Companies to be included in the new ETF's portfolio must have a market capitalization equal to or greater than $100 million and an average daily traded value greater than $1 million over the last 90 trading days.

"As investors increasingly allocate to gold in the current market environment, we believe the capital appreciation and diversification potential of small- and mid-cap gold and exploratory gold producers can't be ignored," according to Christian Magoon, Amplify ETFs CEO.

Emles Adds 2 New ETFs

Recently founded Emles Advisors has added two new ETFs to its portfolio, both listed on the Cboe BZX: the Emles Protective Allocation ETF (DEFN, 0.55%) and the Emles Luxury Goods ETF (LUXE, 0.60%).

DEFN invests and diversifies across asset classes that have historically preserved capital in periods of stress, aiming to "provide investors competitive returns in benign market environments while seeking to protect portfolios in periods of extreme market stress," according to the firm.

LUXE seeks to provide high growth potential via exposure to companies that may stand to benefit from increased consumption of luxury goods.

Emles, founded by former Alerian executives, Gabriel Hammond and Dave Saxena, initially launched four ETFs trading on the Cboe BZX.

— Check out last week's portfolio product roundup here: Virtus Introduces Core Equity ETF: Portfolio Products