An ETF entrepreneur has completed a planned mass adoption deal that boosts his Chicago area shop's assets by 69 percent and nearly doubles its fund lineup.

Christian Magoon Amplify Investments LLC CEO

Yesterday, Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify ETFs [profile], confirmed that the Lisle, Illinois-based firm has closed on its planned acquisition of the funds of ETF Managers Group (ETFMG). The deal brings 14 ETFs with more than $3.7 billion in combined AUM (as of Friday), boosting Amplify to 31 ETFs and $9.1 billion in AUM in total.

A spokesperson for ETFMG declined to comment and referred inquiries back to the initial announcement of the deal last June.

Oppenheimer & Co advised Amplify on the deal. The pricing and terms have not been publicly disclosed.

The adoptions closed at the end of the day last Friday, January 26, with the 14 ETFMG ETFs each transforming into newly created Amplify ETFs. Also, on December 28, ETF Managers Capital LLC agreed to resign as sponsor of ETF Managers Group Commodity Trust I and hand off that role to Amplify Investments, LLC, pending regulatory approval. The Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF, aka BDRY, and the Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF, aka BWET, are series of the ETF Managers Group Commodity Trust I.

Meanwhile, the 12 other transformations went as follows:

The AI Powered Equity ETF (AIEQ) became the Amplify AI Powered Equity ETF;

The BlueStar Israel Technology ETF (ITEQ) became the Amplify BlueStar Israel Technology ETF;

The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) became the Amplify Alternative Harvest ETF;

The ETFMG Etho Climate Leadership U.S. ETF (ETHO) became the Amplify Etho Climate Leadership U.S. ETF;

The ETFMG Prime Cyber Security (HACK) became the Amplify Cybersecurity ETF;

The ETFMG Prime Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ) became the Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF;

The ETFMG Prime Mobile Payments ETF (IPAY) became the Amplify Mobile Payments ETF;

The ETFMG Travel Tech ETF (AWAY) became the Amplify Travel Tech ETF;

The ETFMG Treatments Testing and Advancements ETF (GERM) became the Amplify Treatments Testing and Advancements ETF;

The ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF (MJUS) became the Amplify U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF;

The Wedbush ETFMG Global Cloud Technology ETF (IVES) became the Amplify Global Cloud Technology; and

The Wedbush ETFMG Video Game Tech ETF (GAMR) became the Amplify Video Game Tech ETF.

Magoon describes the ETFMG deal as "Amplify's first sizable ETF acquisition" and "an exciting new chapter" for his shop. He puts the deal in the context of Amplify's mission "to develop innovative products that provide professionally crafted access to unique market segments and investment strategies."

"The addition of these ETFs is an extension of our existing product development mandate and allows Amplify to significantly grow its unique investor solution set," Magoon states. "We envision a brighter future for the acquired ETFs as they both complement our existing product lineup and will experience increased awareness and availability due to our current momentum across national accounts, distribution, and marketing."

William Belden, president of Amplify, highlights Amplify's recent growth, noting that the firm launched three new ETFs last year and expanded its AUM by 36 percent.

The close of the Amplify deal comes 12 years after entrepreneur Sam Masucci founded ETFMG. Masucci resigned from his various ETFMG positions (including CEO and PM) about six months ago, in advance of an August SEC settlement over what the regulator described as a coverup of a conflict of interest involving securities lending in one of ETFMG's ETFs. Masucci and ETFMG neither admitted nor denied the allegations. Also last August, ETFMG liquidated one of its other ETFs. 

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