Avantis Investors^®, a $54 billion* investment offering from the $261 billion** global asset manager American Century Investments^®, enters the European market with its ETF capabilities shortly after its five-year anniversary. Avantis Investors, seeking to build on the significant adoption their strategies have seen in other vehicles since launching in September 2019 in the United States, has been focused on expanding its investment capabilities as well as its client base. The investment offering harnesses an approach designed to increase expected returns by combining the consistency of indexing with active management’s potential for outperformance.

Eduardo Repetto, CIO of Avantis, spoke about the team’s excitement: “We have been asked for a long time now when we will have offerings available outside the United States, so this is a great day. Many investors have found value in our approach to building portfolios, and we are happy to bring our low-cost, well-diversified strategies to the European marketplace.”

Richard Adams, Head of EMEA for American Century Investments, echoed Repetto’s thoughts: “Avantis Investors offers core building blocks for an investor’s allocation. More and more, the clients and prospects we speak with are interested in Avantis, so we’re thrilled to have these available for clients to access.”

Avantis’ investment approach is designed to offer the benefits associated with indexing – such as transparency, broad diversification and low fees, but also seeks to emphasize investment in companies with more attractive valuations and profitability characteristics. All Avantis strategies use the same academically sound risk/return framework uniquely designed for Avantis.

“We always look for innovative solutions to our clients’ needs, expanding our investment capabilities and who we serve – from financial advisors to institutional investors and individual investors – here and across the globe,” said Repetto. “Following our longstanding history of innovation and commitment to client success, our expansion into European markets underscores our dedication to expanding our suite of investment solutions to meet the evolving needs of global investors.”

Avantis launched its first strategy on Sept. 17, 2019, and now has $54 billion across 28 strategies serving more than 3,500 institutional and advisory clients. With a focus on financial science and a range of low-cost investment vehicles, Avantis’ growth has powered American Century’s rise to the fourth largest active ETF issuer¹ and one of the fastest growing ETF issuers in the last decade.² With Intelligence named Avantis the 2024 ETF provider of the year.³ Citywire Pro Buyer named Avantis the fastest growing asset manager in 2023.⁴

Avantis Investors is owned by American Century Investments, an asset manager with a reputation for client care, stewardship and stability—bringing scale and allowing long-term focus. Through American Century’s relationship with the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, investments with Avantis help support research that can improve human health and save lives. Since 2000, American Century’s dividends distributed to the Stowers Institute have totaled more than $2 billion.

Source: American Century Investments

K&L Gates Advises American Century Investments on the Launch of its First UCITS ETFS

Global law firm K&L Gates has advised American Century Investments, a US$240 billion* global asset manager, on the launch of its UCITS ETF platform in Ireland.

The K&L Gates team was led by Dublin Asset Management and Investment Funds partner Hazel Doyle, supported by partner Gayle Bowen and senior associate Lucy Deane.

“We were delighted to advise American Century Investments on its expansion into the European market and the launch of its first UCITS ETFs,” Doyle said. “The active ETF market continues to see steady growth and the timing of this launch was key for American Century Investments. Our knowledge of the Irish ETF market, bolstered by our global ETF practice and our relationship with the Central Bank of Ireland, ensured that we were best placed to successfully navigate the complexities of this transaction and launch within the required timeframe. We look forward to supporting the continued growth and success of their Irish ETFs through our partnership with American Century Investments.”

Orly Lax, deputy general counsel at American Century Investments, remarked: “It has been a pleasure to work with K&L Gates in navigating the launch of our first ETFs in Europe. We are very thankful for the dedicated, attentive, and consistent support that Hazel, Gayle, and the rest of the K&L Gates team provided to us throughout the project. We look forward to working together on more opportunities in the future.”

K&L Gates’ Asset Management and Investment Funds ETF practice delivers clear, cutting-edge advice to ETFs, their sponsors and boards, and other market participants. The firm has a globally integrated team of ETF practitioners with the experience, relationships, and acumen to provide advice that allows clients to capitalize on current and future opportunities in the ETF industry.

*Assets under supervision as of 30/09/24. Source: American Century Investments

Source: K&L Gates