ACSI Funds, an asset management firm specialising in the use of proprietary customer satisfaction data as a leading indicator for security selection, has appointed exchange-traded fund (ETF) specialist Kevin Quigg as chief strategist.
ACSI Funds had previously been operating under the name CSAT Funds.
Prior to joining ACSI Funds, Quigg (pictured) was global head of sales strategy for State Street Global Advisors SPDR family of ETFs. Quigg oversaw the growth of assets under management in SPDR ETFs to over USD400 billion during his tenure.
"Kevin Quigg is a recognised leader in the ETF industry and has helped drive the growth and evolution of exchange traded funds for the past 17 years," says Phil Bak, CEO of ACSI Funds. "Kevin is the perfect person to lead our effort to make ACSI's proprietary data and strategies available to a broader set of investors."
ACSI Funds manages hedge funds and other investment vehicles that invest in large-cap equity securities that are measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
ACSI Funds' investment goal is to obtain excess returns at low risk by utilising proprietary customer satisfaction data and analytics as a signal and harbinger for future changes in company earnings and stock prices. ACSI Funds launched an investible equity index earlier this year and filed a registration statement with the SEC on 5 August to launch a related ETF.
The ACSI is based on customer evaluations of the quality of goods and services purchased in the US and produced by domestic and foreign firms with substantial US market shares.
The ACSI was founded in 1994 by Dr Claes Fornell, Donald C Cook Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. Fornell is the world's leading authority on customer satisfaction, its measurement and analysis, and regularly appears in broadcast and print media.
"Dr Fornell's work analysing the relationship between customer satisfaction and security performance is legendary," says Quigg. "The opportunity to make this work accessible to all investors is an important addition to the wealth management marketplace. The proprietary ACSI data provides a unique, intuitive, and valuable factor in building stock portfolios that deliver long term investment growth."
