Neuberger Berman announced the launch of its first-ever actively managed ETFs. The three new ETFs will invest in companies related to the following distinct thematic megatrends: technology disruption, digitally connected consumers, and infrastructure-enabling decarbonization.
Managed by Neuberger Berman, the ETFs are an extension of the firm’s thematic equity investment capabilities using traditional fundamental equity research along with alternative data capabilities and consideration of material environmental, social, and governance factors.
Joseph Amato, chief investment officer and president of Neuberger Berman, said in a news release that the new ETFs “deliver Neuberger Berman’s thematic equity expertise to a broad investor base."
The three new ETFs are:
- Neuberger Berman Connected Consumer ETF (NYSE Arca: NBCC) to provide investors with access to the companies that are potential beneficiaries of the emergence of Generations Y and Z as the dominant consumers. Over the coming 15 years, the digitally native cohort totaling 3.5 billion people is expected to grow its spending by 29% to 54%, and to represent 81% of total global disposable income by 2050. The team’s data science capabilities will be used to evaluate the web search and spending tendencies of millions of consumers, and the call transcripts and filings of over 4,000 public companies daily to identify the opportunities that appear best positioned for mass adoption in the digital age. NBCC is managed by Kevin McCarthy, John San Marco, Kai Cui, Timothy Creedon, and Hari Ramanan.
- Neuberger Berman Carbon Transition & Infrastructure ETF (NYSE Arca: NBCT) to invest in companies that are focused on or are transitioning their business to focus on one or more of the following themes: (1) low-carbon resources (i.e., issuers focused on producing renewable energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal and green hydrogen, and the related storage and transport of these energies); (2) electrification (i.e., issuers that help enable the replacement of technologies that use higher carbon-emitting fuels with those that use low-carbon resources as a source of energy, including those that support smart grid and electric vehicle-charging solutions as well as electricity transmission and distribution that help expand usage of low-carbon solutions); and (3) carbon reduction solutions (i.e., issuers that directly facilitate the carbon reduction goals of infrastructure owners, including innovative raw materials, industrial gases, engineering and construction service providers, environmental services providers, and environmental technology providers). Fifty percent of global electricity is expected to be generated by renewables by 2050, representing an expected $50 trillion investment opportunity as the underlying infrastructure is revolutionized. NBCT is managed by Ronald Silvestri, Jared Mann, James Tyre, Timothy Creedon, and Hari Ramanan.
- Neuberger Berman Disrupters ETF (NYSE Arca: NBDS) to invest in companies pursuing disruptive growth agendas that the team believes will shape the future and can invest globally across market capitalizations. Eschewing traditional sector classification, the fund will instead use a disciplined process to seek highly innovative companies consistent with a longer-term investment horizon. By using machine learning, language processing, and cloud computing techniques, the portfolio team will have access to daily analysis on six terabytes of data, including SKU-level transaction data, search data, and conference call transcripts, complementing its fundamental analysis to result in a rigorously developed and highly targeted portfolio of roughly 30 companies. Neuberger Berman has managed strategies focused on disruptive growth companies since January 2015 with $473 million in AUM as of December 3. Rick Bradt and Jason Tauber will manage the Disrupters ETF.
“Thematic strategies aim to identify and invest in long-term economic shifts and require an extremely rigorous, research-based approach,” added Hari Ramanan, CIO of global research strategies at Neuberger Berman, in the release. “We are bringing together the data science, local market expertise, active management, and the corporate engagement tools that Neuberger Berman has cultivated in order to develop what we view as the best-in-breed thematic offerings, in a widely available ETF structure with the potential for tax efficiency.”
Neuberger Berman currently manages $18 billion in thematic equity investments for global clients as of December 31. These ETFs are designed to broaden access for individual investors and their advisors.
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