The folks at a $65-billion-AUM*, multi-manager fund in Illinois and a 36-year-old quant shop in Massachusetts are teaming up on another ETF, this time to address investors' "performance gap."

Kristof Marius Gleich Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. President, Chief Investment Officer

On Thursday (August 14), Kristof Gleich, president and chief investment officer of Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. [profile], unveiled the launch of the Harbor Alpha Layering ETF (HOLD on the NYSE Arca, Inc.). Chicago-based Harbor serves as HOLD's investment advisor, while Boston-based PanAgora Asset Management, Inc. serves as subadvisor.

HOLD's inception date was last Wednesday (August 13), and the new fund's expense ratio is 73 basis points. HOLD now has about $3.003 million in AUM**.

The PM team for HOLD is all from PanAgora. Those portfolio mnagers include:

Jon Beaulieu, director in the multi asset group;

Bryan Belton, president and CEO;

Vic Malla, research analyst in the multi asset group; and

Edward Qian, head of multi asset research and CIO of multi asset investments.

Gleich puts the launch of HOLD in the context of behavioral biases contributing to investors' "performance gap" with the returns of market indexes. HOLD, he says, is designed to address that problem.

"Unlike similar strategies, HOLD aims to allow investors the potential to benefit from positive market performance in regular market environments while seeking to mitigate large losses during downturns," Gleich states. "For investors seeking an all-weather, diversifying strategy with the goal of adding alpha across varied market environments, we believe HOLD deserves a close look."

The launch of HOLD comes less than a year after the Harbor and PanAgora folks teamed up to launch another ETF, one that now has about $580 million in AUM**. HOLD is one of 29 ETFs (and one of 15 domestic equity ETFs) now offered by the Harbor team.

HOLD is an actively managed, non-diversified series of the Harbor ETF Trust. The new ETF's other service providers include:

Ernst & Young LLP as independent accounting firm;

ACA's Foreside Fund Services, LLC as distributor; and

State Street Bank and Trust Company as custodian, dividend disbursing agent, and transfer agent.

*As of June 30, 2025.

**As of August 18, 2025 (i.e. today) 

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