Weakness in Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF's People and Process Pillar ratings limits this strategy to a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Negative. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The longest-tenured manager has a wealth of experience, but due to other weaknesses, the strategy earns a Low People Pillar. The fund earns a Below Average Process Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Average Parent Pillar rating, and this rating is inherited from vehicles belonging to the same branding entity and is indirectly assigned by an analyst.

Analyst Rating

Morningstar's evaluation of this fund's process seeks to understand management's investment philosophy, and whether it has been applied consistently over time and can add value across the market cycle. Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF earns a Below Average Process Pillar rating.    The process benefits from low costs across its parent firm's funds, whose fees rank in their respective category's middle quintile on average. The pattern of low expenses at the firm suggests that it is focused on delivering strong results for investors. However, the rating is weakened by the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 47%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The parent's relatively low success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup. The parent firm's five-year retention rate of 50% also holds the process back.

 The investment strategy as stated in the fund's prospectus is as follows: 


The investment seeks to provide a high level of current interest income that is exempt from federal income tax, and attempts to preserve capital by investing in short term municipal obligations.  Under normal circumstances, ETF will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities the income from which is exempt from federal income tax, and including the federal alternative minimum tax. This is a fundamental investment policy that may not be changed without prior shareholder approval.

Below Average

Process

Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF earns a Low People Pillar rating. The most meaningful detractor from the rating is the parent firm's five-year success ratio of 48%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and outperformed their respective category's median return for the period. The parent's subpar success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup. The parent firm's five-year retention rate of 50% also detracts from the team. The number of months that the management team has been running this vehicle together limits the rating further. Since this is a newly incepted product, more time is needed to monitor the team's capability at executing the strategy.


William Roach’s veteran status, with 18 years of listed portfolio management experience, brings a wealth of experience to the table. The average Morningstar Rating of the strategies they currently manage is 3.7 stars, demonstrating encouraging risk-adjusted performance. William Roach has an experienced backdrop of support. The three listed managers boast 16 years of average listed portfolio management experience. None of the managers here invest any money in the strategy, which is disappointing, as such investments help align managers' interests with fundholders.

People

Macquarie Asset Management is part of Macquarie Group, whose interests span banking, advice, and funds management. Asset management has grown considerably since Macquarie pioneered an infrastructure business in the 1990s, totaling about AUD 770 billion (at March 2022) split roughly 70/30 in public/private markets. In Australia, Macquarie also distributes third-party managers catering to high-net-worth clients. Macquarie has methodically integrated U.S.-based Delaware Investments since acquiring it in 2009. This is especially visible in fixed interest, a significant component following several years of successful and stable management. Macquarie’s opportunism has its merits, though it can engender staffing and product distractions when integrating overlapping capabilities, such as Waddell & Reed (Ivy Investments) and AMP Capital in 2021/22. More pertinently, across the substantial footprint of public market assets beyond fixed interest, we see few examples of clear strength or conditions that are clearly conducive to maintaining lasting success. When allied to an uneven history with internally managed equity capabilities (including Australian fundamental and Asian equities), we are more circumspect. That said, fund performance influences 70% of variable staff remuneration, which helps investor alignment, while longer-term remuneration comes via gradually vesting Macquarie stock.

Average

Parent

Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF

STAX actively invests in municipal securities exempt from federal income taxes. It will hold short-term, investment grade and high yield Muni bonds issued in the US with effective maturity of between 1 and 5 years.

Charles Schwab

WESTLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Schwab Trading Activity Index™ (STAX) decreased to 48.87 in April, down from its score of 51.65 in March. The only index of its kind, the STAX is a proprietary, behavior-based index that analyzes retail investor stock positions and trading activity from Schwab's millions of client accounts to illuminate what investors were actually doing and how they were positioned in the markets each month. The reading for the four-week period ending April 26, 2024, ranks.

Schwab Trading Activity Index™: Score Declines to Moderate-Low Levels in April Amid Market Volatility

WESTLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Schwab Trading Activity Index™ (STAX) increased to 51.65 in March, up from its score of 47.65 in February. The only index of its kind, the STAX is a proprietary, behavior-based index that analyzes retail investor stock positions and trading activity from Schwab's millions of client accounts to illuminate what investors were actually doing and how they were positioned in the markets each month. The reading for the four-week period ending March 28, 2024 ranks.

Schwab Trading Activity Index™: Score Ascends to Moderate Levels in March

Macquarie Global Listed Infrastructure ETF

Macquarie Energy Transition ETF

Macquarie Asset Management has launched a suite of actively managed ETFs on the New York Stock Exchange. The funds target global infrastructure, energy transition, and municipal bonds.

News for Macquarie Tax-Free USA Short Term ETF ETF (STAX)