Citi Appointed by Dimensional Fund Advisors to Provide Securities Services for New Family of Active ETFs
New York – Citi has been appointed by Dimensional Fund Advisors to provide securities services for its new family of actively managed, transparent exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the first two of which launched November 18. As part of the mandate, Citi will provide fund administration, global custody, transfer agency, agency securities lending and ETF services.
"We have a long-standing relationship with Citi as a valued service provider to our funds—we know them, and they know us," said Gerard O'Reilly, Co-CEO and CIO at Dimensional Fund Advisors. "Based on our experience with Citi, we expect they will do a great job as service provider to Dimensional's suite of ETFs."
Dimensional Fund Advisors is a global leader in systematic factor investing that has plans to grow its active, transparent ETF offering. Dimensional has successfully launched three core equity ETFs: Dimensional US Core Equity Market ETF (NYSE Arca: DFAU), Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF (NYSE Arca: DFAI) and Dimensional Emerging Core Equity Market ETF (NYSE Arca: DFAE). In addition, the firm recently unveiled plans to convert six tax-managed mutual funds into new ETFs in 2021—one of the first to do so in the asset management industry.
"This is a big step for Dimensional, for Citi and for the industry," said Peggy Vena of ETF Product Development for North America at Citi. "As we build momentum with our newly upgraded ETF services platform, we are thrilled to support Dimensional in broadening their suite of ETFs in this ground breaking way."
Dimensional will be the first U.S. client to benefit from the launch of Citi's new ETF Order Portal, allowing authorized participants an easy way to place creation and redemption orders. The portal is the market-facing instance of Citi's ACES (Advanced Citi ETF System) which allows Citi to automate the full ETF life cycle from basket creation to order processing and settlement. The ETF Order Portal is also available and being used in EMEA and APAC.
This mandate expands a global relationship between Dimensional and Citi Securities Services that dates back to 1997, when Citi began providing global custody and foreign exchange services. Over the years, the partnership has grown to include agency securities lending, global fund services, transfer agency, middle office and collateral management services.
"We are proud to expand our long-standing relationship with Dimensional as they expand their solutions offering and deliver their industry leading investment philosophy in actively managed ETFs," said Dominic Crowe, North America Head of Custody and Fund Services at Citi. "We believe this mandate is a testament to our ongoing investment in our securities services platform and, in particular, our ETF capabilities."
With over $23.6 trillion1 of assets under custody and administration and the industry-leading proprietary network spanning over 60 markets, Citi Securities Services provides clients with in-depth local market expertise, advanced processing technologies and a wide range of custody and fund services that can be tailored to meet clients' needs.
1 As of Q2 2020
Citi
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Media Contact: Scott Helfman +1 212-816-9241