Updates
On November 10th, Tiffany Hsiao rejoined Matthews Asia after leaving the firm in August 2020 to join Artisan Partners to launch a China-focused private fund. Prior to her departure, Tiffany managed the firm’s China Small Companies, former Asia Small Companies (now Emerging Markets Small Companies), and Asia Innovators strategies.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared the way for Dimensional Fund Advisors to launch an exchange-traded fund share class on 13 of its existing mutual funds (see the November Commentary for the 13 funds) on November 17th.
Briefly Noted . . .
On or about January 28, 2026, CrossingBridge Pre-Merger SPAC ETF will change its name and its investment objective. The new name will be CrossingBridge Ultra-Short Duration ETF with a new investment objective to offer a higher yield than cash instruments while maintaining a low duration. The current ETF advisers allow that “the investor base interested in a very narrow pre-merger SPAC arbitrage strategy has diminished and the cost to acquire new potential clients is high.” First impressions aside, the Pre-Merger SPAC ETF is a low volatility strategy (maximum lifetime drawdown of 0.4%, annualized returns of 5.3%), which is consistent with CrossingBridge’s corporate ethos: “Return of capital is more important than return on capital. CrossingBridge seeks high current income and capital appreciation consistent with the preservation of capital.” Five of their six older funds have earned MFO’s Great Owl designation for having consistently top quintile risk-adjusted returns over all trailing measurement periods; the seventh fund, Nordic High Income, is fascinating but too young to qualify.
Launches and Reorganizations
Brown Advisory International Value Select ETF is in registration. Expenses have not been stated. Brown Advisory LLC serves as the investment adviser.
FPA Queens Road Value ETF is in registration with the intent of reorganizing FPA Queens Road Value Fund into an ETF. Expenses have not been stated. Steve Scruggs, CFA, will remain the portfolio manager and has served as the portfolio manager of the predecessor fund.
T Rowe Price has announced four new active fixed income exchange-traded funds: T. Rowe Price Short Municipal Income ETF (TMNS), T. Rowe Price Long Municipal Income ETF (TMNL), T. Rowe Price High Income Municipal ETF (THYM, Snowball begins humming about parsley, sage, rosemary, and …), and the T. Rowe Price Multi-Sector Income ETF (TMSF).
- T. Rowe Price Short Municipal Income ETF (TMNS) invests primarily in short- and intermediate-term investment-grade municipal bonds. It is managed by James Lynch, CFA, who has 18 years of investment experience and also manages the T. Rowe Price Intermediate Municipal Income ETF (TAXE). The fund’s net expense ratio is 0.18%.
- T. Rowe Price Long Municipal Income ETF (TMNL) invests primarily in longer-term municipal bonds. It is managed by Austin Applegate, CFA, who has 21 years of investment experience, and Timothy Taylor, CFA, who has 28 years of investment experience. TMNL’s net expense ratio is 0.26%.
- T. Rowe Price High Income Municipal ETF (THYM) invests primarily in longer-term, low- to upper-medium quality municipal bonds. Jim Murphy, CFA, who is head of the Municipal Bond team at T. Rowe Price and has 31 years of investment experience, manages the fund with co-portfolio managers Colin Bando and Michael Kane, who have 14 and 16 years of investment experience, respectively. The net expense ratio for THYM is 0.32%.
- The T. Rowe Price Multi-Sector Income ETF (TMSF) invests across the full global fixed income universe, spanning multiple credit sectors, countries, and currencies. The fund is managed by four co-portfolio managers, Kenneth Orchard, Vincent Chung, Adam Marden, and Jeanny Silva, who respectively have 21, 11, 13, and 22 years of investment experience. TMSF’s net expense ratio is 0.37%.
Vanguard has launched three new actively managed ETFs: Vanguard Wellington U.S. Growth Active ETF (VUSG), Vanguard Wellington Dividend Growth Active ETF (VDIG), and Vanguard Wellington U.S. Value Active ETF (VUSV).
VUSV’s strategy and management are similar to the Wellington Management portion of the Windsor Fund, with an expense ratio of 0.30%. VUSG’s strategy and management are similar to the Wellington Management portion of the Vanguard Global Equity Fund, with an expense ratio of 0.35%. VDIG is managed by the same team that is responsible for the Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund, with an expense ratio of 0.40%.
Small Wins for Investors
Clearbridge Small Cap Growth fund is reopening to new investors on December 1st. The fund has been soft-closed since October 2013.
Vanguard has trimmed its fees on its Primecap Funds:
- PRIMECAP: down 0.02%–0.37% to 0.35%
- PRIMECAP Core: down 0.06%–0.43% to 0.37%
- Capital Opportunity: down 0.03%–0.43% to 0.40%
Additionally, Vanguard has eliminated its longstanding fee agreement with Primecap. Primecap will be paid a base fee plus (when it exceeds its benchmark) or minus (when it underperforms its benchmark). Previously, PRIMECAP was paid a simple, asset-based fee: a set percentage of each fund’s assets, billed quarterly.
Closings (and related inconveniences)
Bumpkus.
Old Wine, New Bottles
DoubleLine Floating Rate Fund and DoubleLine Select Income Fund will, pending shareholder approval, be subject to a “Plan of Reorganization and Termination” through which they’ll become American Beacon funds on February 6, 2026. In each case, the change will involve stapling the words “American Beacon” to the front of the current name.
If shareholders approve, the $23 million Fidelity U.S. Low Volatility Equity Fund is expected to reorganize into the $1.5 billion Fidelity Low Volatility Factor ETF on or about May 8, 2026. If they don’t approve, their fund will be liquidated and the orphans cast out into the street.
Laffer | Tengler Equity Income ETF will be reorganized into the Wedbush LAFFER|TENGLER New Era Value ETF.
Off to the Dustbin of History
abrdn Bloomberg Industrial Metals Strategy K-1 Free ETF will liquidate on or about December 5, 2025. Fascinating factsheet: the fund has $23,214,433.06 in assets – presumably for about a 12-second window, has been in operation since 9/23/2021, and seems to have returned 0.43% since inception.
The Acclivity Mid Cap Multi-Style Fund has closed and will discontinue its operations effective December 22, 2025.
AB Sustainable US Thematic Portfolio will be variously terminated, liquidated, and dissolved on or about January 16, 2026.
The two-year-old, $31 million American Beacon AHL Multi-Alternatives Fund has closed and will liquidate and terminate on or about December 30, 2025.
BlackRock U.S. Insights Long/Short Equity Fund will close to new and subsequent investments on December 31, 2025, in anticipation of a January 30, 2026, liquidation.
City National Rochdale U.S. Core Equity Fund will be liquidated on December 22, 2025. Decent fund with nearly $200 million in assets, but it appears that it lost a single large shareholder recently, with assets dropping by $199.46 million (per Morningstar) all at once.
CoinShares Bitcoin Leverage ETF (BTFX) will be dissolved on December 16, 2025. Apparently, the advisor wasn’t able to find enough adrenaline junkies who wanted to take a ride in a vehicle twice as volatile as Bitcoin itself. How volatile? Ummm … on 10/6/2025, the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) hit $55.96/share. Six weeks later, it visited $36.42, a 35% drawdown. Year to date, BTC has lost 4% and BTFX has booked a 37% loss.
Conestoga Mid Cap Fund will be liquidated on or about January 31, 2026.
Cromwell Balanced Fund (formerly Cromwell Sustainable Balanced Fund) terminated the public offering of its shares and discontinued its operations on November 17, 2025.
The microscopic DailyDelta Q100 Upside Option Strategy ETF, which pursues short-term upside bets on the NASDAQ 100, and its evil twin DailyDelta Q100 Downside Option Strategy ETF, both disappear on or about December 8, 2025, after just eight months of operation despite high nominal returns for QUP and correspondingly large losses for QDWN.
Following the resignation of Raymond James as the fund’s subadviser, the FT Raymond James Multicap Growth Equity ETF will be liquidated on January 16, 2026.
Goose Hollow Multi-Strategy Income ETF was liquidated on November 28, 2025.
Lazard Global Equity Select Portfolio disappears on or about December 30, 2025.
Matthews China Dividend Fund will be reorganized into the Matthews Asia Dividend Fund on or about January 27, 2026.
The $16 million Rice Hall James Micro Cap Portfolio will liquidate on or about December 29, 2025.
State Street Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF, State Street SPDR S&P SmallCap 600 ESG ETF, State Street SPDR MSCI USA Climate Paris Aligned ETF, and State Street SPDR MarketAxess Investment Grade 400 Corporate Bond ETF are slated to undergo a singularly slow unwinding, with the funds closing on May 12, 2026, and liquidating on May 18th.
Texas Capital Texas Small Cap Equity Index ETF, which promised you the opportunity to “harness the potential of small companies benefiting from the business-friendly Texas economy,” will be liquidated on or about December 15, 2025. Based on a simple comparison with Mairs & Power Small Cap, it appears that the “economic, regulatory, taxation, workforce, and other benefits” of operating in Texas might be just a little less compelling than those of operating in Minnesota.
The $14 million Touchstone Climate Transition ETF (HEAT) will be liquidated on December 23, 2025, a decision attributed to the fund’s limited growth potential. The #1 and #2 holdings are NVIDIA and Facebook / Alphabet, dubious champions of the climate transition.
Sanford C. Bernstein Emerging Markets Portfolio will be reorganized into an ETF through a merger with the AB Emerging Markets Opportunities ETF. While Bernstein is the investment adviser for both the fund and the ETF, the ETF is managed by a different portfolio team, one that employs an integrated approach that combines both fundamental and quantitative research to identify attractive investment opportunities to manage risk. The acquisition “is expected to be consummated on or about January 23, 2026.” (That sounds creepily like the description of some feudal lord’s wedding night, by the way.”
Sterling Capital Short Duration Bond and Sterling Capital Ultra Short Bond Funds will be reorganized into the Sterling Capital Short Duration Bond ETF and Sterling Capital Ultra Short Bond ETF, respectively. The reorganizations are expected to occur on or about March 30, 2026.
