Man Group, the world’s largest publicly listed hedge fund manager, has entered the US ETF market with the launch of its first standalone products — a move that brings hedge fund-style credit strategies to a broader investor base.
The firm listed two actively managed bond ETFs on the NYSE on Thursday – the Man Active High Yield ETF (MHY) and the Man Active Income ETF (MANI). Both products draw on Man’s $42.7bn global credit platform and are designed to deliver income and capital growth over the medium to long term.
The launch represents a major strategic shift for Man, which until now has avoided the transparency and daily liquidity of ETFs. “Look at this as Man being all-in in the ETF business versus just us dipping our toes,” said Michael Barrer, Man’s head of ETF capital markets.
MHY will be run by Mike Scott, Head of Global High Yield and Credit Opportunities, investing primarily in high yield bonds, with up to 30% allocated to securities rated below B3/B-. MANI, managed by Jonathan Golan, Head of Investment Grade and Dynamic Credit, will take a flexible, bottom-up approach across corporate, government, and securitised debt, with scope to hold convertibles, hybrids, and other income-linked instruments.
The ETFs are not priced to compete with passive peers — MHY carries a 0.69% fee and MANI 0.85% — but Man is betting its credit expertise and track record of institutional performance will attract investors. Its existing private funds with similar strategies have posted annualised returns of 9% and 22%, respectively.
Mark Bedford, Man’s global head of wealth, said the offering is aimed squarely at US wealth clients, a priority growth market since CEO Robyn Grew took over in 2023. “Credit ETFs are one of the fastest growing segments of the ETF universe, while active ETFs are expected to quadruple in the next five years,” he said.
The timing comes amid record demand for fixed income ETFs. Active ETF assets have multiplied sixfold since 2020, and BlackRock projects bond ETFs alone will reach $6trn by 2030. Hedge fund rivals including Bridgewater, DoubleLine, and Apollo have also launched ETF products, though with mixed performance.
