Inspired by record demand for ETFs, many traditional mutual fund providers have recently brought strategies to the industry. We continue to want to profile some of them. Allspring Global Investments debuted active fixed income ETFs in December 2024. This March, it added two equity ETFs
This was a busy week for the firm. On Monday, VettaFi hosted a webcast with hundreds of advisors regarding the benefits of looking beyond large cap-growth. VettaFi was honored to be with them. We connected with Rick Genoni, global head of product development and innovation and leader of Allspring’s ETF initiative, to learn more.
VettaFi: Tell us about the expertise that Allspring brings to the active ETF industry.
Genoni: Allspring Global Investments is a leading independent asset management firm, operating across 20 offices globally with approximately $600 billion in assets under advisement.¹ What’s unique about Allspring is that while our brand is only a few years old, we have a rich history of active investing that spans decades, originating from our time as Wells Fargo Asset Management.
This affords us the flexibility to operate in a nimble manner like a start-up, allowing us to redesign and build the asset manager of the future while leveraging the experience and scale of a seasoned investment firm. That combination positions us well to expand into new markets and capabilities while prioritizing how we can best serve our clients — helping Allspring distinguish itself as a stand-out asset manager and active ETF provider.
The firm is led by seasoned investment professionals, averaging 23 years of industry experience. We operate an investment platform that encompasses a broad spectrum of active strategies across fixed income, equities, multi-asset, and alternatives. This is coupled with an ETF leadership team that collectively has over 50 years’ experience building and developing ETF businesses.
With that history, experience, and expertise comes a large stable of longstanding, proven investment strategies that we offer across multiple vehicles including mutual funds, institutional separate accounts, closed-end funds, and [separately managed accounts] SMAs. At Allspring, we’re committed to being the easiest asset manager to work with. In part, that means taking a vehicle-agnostic approach and meeting our clients wherever they are. We understand that ETFs are the vehicle of choice for many investors. And we’re excited to deliver a number of our time-tested active strategies as ETFs. Our active approach may help investors navigate this challenging investment landscape characterized by heightened volatility, offering the expertise and versatility that active management can provide.
VettaFi: Can you tell us about the Allspring Special Large Value ETF (ASLV) that was recently launched?
Genoni: The Allspring Special Large Value ETF offers investors an ETF version of our Special Large Value strategy that’s been in existence for years through our mutual fund, SMA, and separate accounts that have combined assets of more than $2.8 billion.
Like the mutual fund and SMA, ASLV is managed by our Special Global Equity team, This a deeply experienced and highly skilled group consisting of 19 investment professionals with an average of 22 years [each] in the industry.²
What helps set that strategy apart starts with our CPA-based approach to evaluating companies. The team has developed a unique process for analyzing a company’s balance sheet to understand how they might use their available capital to grow the business in a way that the market isn’t currently anticipating.
VettaFi: Why this approach?
Genoni: We believe a company’s balance-sheet-driven choices, such as acquisitions, capital expenditures, stock buybacks, and dividend payments, are the elements most controlled by a company’s management team. But they are often only considered by investors after they happen. As an investor, we want to be ahead of these choices, so we can participate in the stocks’ upside when they become visible to other investors. The balance sheet analysis we do offers both a distinct and highly effective way for us to uncover and exploit market inefficiencies and differentiated sources of alpha.
Our next differentiator is our rigorous bottom-up research. We recognize that successful security selection doesn’t just happen without a sound or rigorous research approach. We leverage a proprietary bottom-up investment process, distinctly focused on companies that possess three key characteristics.
VettaFi: Can you tell me about them?
Genoni: Yes. No. 1, the company must have an asset that provides a durable competitive advantage.
No. 2, the asset must generate strong and consistent free cash flow.
And No. 3, the company must have that always important balance sheet flexibility.
That combination creates a very defensible company with financial freedom that is designed to help protect downside and provides upside optionality.
Finally, we use our reward-to-risk decision-making framework to make unemotional and consistent stock choices and position sizing decisions. The team appraises companies for both upside and downside potential, investing in a stock price that adequately compensates us for the level of risk being taken. In other words, we don’t make that common Wall Street mistake of only chasing upside. We balance it against our measure of the potential risk involved. The process helps us build a smart and efficient portfolio focused on our unique stock selection approach.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit ETFdb.
¹As of March 31, 2025. Investment talent includes directors and associate-level professionals.
²As of December 31, 2024.
Please note this article is for information purposes only and does not in any way constitute investment advice. It is essential that you seek advice from a registered financial professional prior to making any investment decision.
Carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. For a current prospectus and, if available, a summary prospectus, containing this and other information, visit allspringglobal.com. Read it carefully before investing.
It is possible that an active trading market for ETF shares will not develop, which may hurt your ability to buy or sell shares, particularly in times of market stress. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value in the secondary market. These variations may be greater when markets are volatile or subject to unusual conditions. There can be no assurance that active trading markets for the shares will develop or be maintained by market makers or authorized participants. Shares of the ETFs are not redeemable with the ETF other than in creation unit aggregations. Instead, investors must buy or sell the ETF shares in the secondary market at market price (not net asset value) through a broker-dealer. In doing so, the investor may incur brokerage commissions and may pay more than net asset value when buying and may receive less than net asset value when selling. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Bond values fluctuate in response to the financial condition of individual issuers, general market and economic conditions, and changes in interest rates. Changes in market conditions and government policies may lead to periods of heightened volatility in the bond market and reduced liquidity for certain bonds held by the fund. In general, when interest rates rise, bond values fall and investors may lose principal value. Interest rate changes and their impact on the fund and its share price can be sudden and unpredictable. High yield securities and junk bonds have a greater risk of default and tend to be more volatile than higher-rated securities with similar maturities. Mortgage- and asset-backed securities may decline in value and become less liquid when defaults on the underlying mortgages or asset occur and may become volatile in periods of rising interest rates. Foreign investments are especially volatile and can rise or fall dramatically due to differences in the political and economic conditions of the host country. These risks are generally intensified in emerging markets. Consult the fund’s prospectus for additional information on these and other risks.
This material is for general informational and educational purposes only and is NOT intended to provide investment advice or a recommendation of any kind—including a recommendation for any specific investment, strategy, or plan.
Allspring Global InvestmentsTM is the trade name for the asset management firms of Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC, a holding company indirectly owned by certain private funds of GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners, L.P. These firms include but are not limited to Allspring Global Investments, LLC, and Allspring Funds Management, LLC, and Galliard Capital Management. Certain products managed by Allspring entities are distributed by Allspring Funds Distributor, LLC (a broker-dealer and Member FINRA/SIPC).
Diversification does not ensure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses.
© 2025 Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved
