Simplify Asset Management

What Simplify Asset Management does

Simplify Asset Management Inc. is a US-based, privately-held ETF sponsor that designs and manages a portfolio of exchange-traded funds listed on NYSE Arca, focused on alternative, income, and tax-aware strategies for financial advisors and institutional investors. The firm's product suite spans managed futures (the $1.1 billion+ CTA ETF launched March 2022, plus the SDMF index ETF launched February 2026 and a planned DBMF clone), currency (FOXY, an actively managed G10/EM currency fund launched February 2025), barrier income (SBAR), and tax-aware alternatives and diversified income wrappers (LQ and DINE, launched May 2026). The technology backbone is a swap-based ETF architecture that uses total return swaps and futures on existing Simplify ETFs with at least one-year tenors, engineered to convert taxable gains into long-term capital gains treatment; CTA uses a rules-based managed futures methodology and FOXY combines mean-reversion in G10 currencies with carry strategies in emerging market currencies while maintaining roughly balanced long and short foreign currency exposures to avoid direct USD exposure.

The firm earns revenue primarily through recurring management fees on AUM, with the CTA expense ratio at 0.75% annually and supplementary revenue from revenue-sharing arrangements with product developers, notably Harley Bassman, who created volatility products for the firm before filing a compensation lawsuit in April 2026. Distribution is exclusively through NYSE Arca, accessible via any brokerage or retirement account, with no direct consumer pricing. Awareness is driven principally by Chief Market Strategist Michael Green through appearances on CNBC's Squawk Box, BNN Bloomberg, and Bloomberg Intelligence podcasts, supplemented by financial press coverage of product launches. Target segments are financial advisors (RIAs, wealth managers, broker-dealers) and institutional investors (pension funds, endowments, family offices, hedge funds), with 13F filings documenting growing institutional positions across firms including Farther Finance Advisors, AE Wealth Management, Jane Street Group, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, and Sound Income Strategies.

Name

Simplify Asset Management

Legal name

Simplify Asset Management Inc.

Website

https://simplificadm.com.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Simplify Asset Management is a US-based privately-held ETF sponsor that designs and manages alternative, managed futures, currency, and tax-aware exchange-traded funds on NYSE Arca for financial advisors and institutional investors, using swap-based structures to deliver tax-efficient access to alternative strategies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Asset Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Open-End Investment Funds (525910), Open-End Investment Funds (52591)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Asset & Allocation ETFs (Balanced, Target Risk) (FSAAAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Currency & FX-Hedged ETFs (FSAAAFAL), Fixed Income ETFs (Government, Corporate, Munis, TIPS) (FSAAAFAD)

Keywords

• Exchange traded funds
• Asset management
• Managed futures ETF
• Alternative investment strategies
• Currency strategy ETF

Headquarters

HQ city

Goiânia

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. ETF Management Fees: Simplify Asset Management generates revenue through management fees charged on its ETFs. Assets under management in products like CTA (over $1.1 billion) and FOXY drive recurring revenue. Fee structure includes expense ratios (e.g., CTA at 0.75% annually).
2. ETF Licensing and Development: Revenue from ETFs developed in partnership with industry veterans like Harley Bassman, who helped create volatility products for the firm and had revenue-sharing arrangements tied to several ETFs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Simplify Asset Management is an ETF sponsor that issues and manages exchange-traded funds delivering liquid, derivatives-based exposure to alternative, managed futures, currency, barrier income, and tax-aware strategies. Its product suite includes CTA, SDMF, FOXY, SBAR, LQ, DINE, PCR, PFIX, and RFIX, distributed via NYSE Arca to financial advisors, institutional investors, and retail brokerage clients. Revenue is generated primarily through ETF management fees on assets under management, supplemented by revenue-sharing arrangements with select product developers.

Product overview

Simplify Asset Management is an ETF sponsor offering a diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds spanning alternatives, managed futures, income strategies, currency, and tax-aware solutions. The core offerings include managed futures (CTA), barrier income (SBAR), currency strategy (FOXY), and tax-aware alternatives/income ETFs (LQ, DINE). The company uses innovative derivatives structures including swaps, futures, and forward contracts to provide liquid exposure to alternative strategies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Simplify ETFs: Exchange-traded fund product line including managed futures, currency strategy, barrier income, and tax-aware strategies

Products and services

• Simplify Tax Aware Alternatives ETF (LQ) Tax-aware alternatives ETF that uses a swaps-based structure to help investors minimize tax drag while accessing diversified alternative strategies in a single ticker.
• Simplify Tax Aware Diversified Income Strategy ETF (DINE) Tax-aware income ETF that uses a swaps-based structure to minimize tax drag while delivering diversified income strategies through a single-ticker allocation.
• Simplify SDMF ETF Rules-based index ETF providing systematic, liquid exposure to managed futures, primarily gaining exposure via total return swaps and futures contracts.
• Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF (CTA) Actively managed managed futures ETF designed to deliver diversification away from traditional 60/40 portfolios, with over $1.1 billion in AUM and approximately 50% cumulative return since March 2022 inception.
• Simplify Barrier Income ETF (SBAR) Barrier income ETF investing across global equity and fixed income markets, designed to deliver income with defined-risk barrier option strategies.
• Simplify Currency Strategy ETF (FOXY) Actively managed currency ETF taking long global currency baskets while shorting the US dollar through forwards, swaps, and futures; uses mean-reversion for G10 currencies and carry for emerging market currencies.
• Simplify PCR ETF Simplify ETF that underwent NAV restatement for the period February 27 to March 3, 2026 due to incorrect dividend calculations, with adjustments ranging from -0.73% to +1.90%.
• Simplify PFIX ETF Simplify ETF that underwent NAV restatement for the period February 27 to March 3, 2026 due to incorrect swaption forward premiums, with adjustments ranging from -0.73% to +1.90%.
• Simplify RFIX ETF Simplify ETF that underwent NAV restatement for the period February 27 to March 3, 2026 due to incorrect swaption forward premiums, with adjustments ranging from -0.73% to +1.90%.
• Simplify DBMF Clone ETF Index-based clone of the iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF), offering low-cost, swap-based exposure to the underlying managed futures index for US investors.

Quantifiable outcome

• CTA returned approximately 50% since March 2022 inception while delivering 3.5% monthly gains during summer 2022 bear market
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Christopher GetterminorOthersChristopher Getter of Simplify Asset Management provided insights on private credit risks and rewards in a wealth management industry article, discussing market behaviors, liquidity issues, and alternative liquid strategies.
• Harley BassmancoreOthersHarley Bassman, who created a widely-followed Treasury-market volatility gauge and developed exchange-traded funds for Simplify Asset Management, filed a lawsuit alleging the company failed to honor revenue-sharing arrangements tied to ETFs he helped create. Bassman claims he is owed millions in compensation for products he developed.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Invesco: Major ETF sponsor with significant alternatives and income franchises (e.g., Invesco QQQ, BulletShares). Broad incumbent with overlapping alternative-strategy ETFs at much larger scale.
• WisdomTree: Established public ETF sponsor with broad alternatives, currency, and income offerings. Comparable as a larger incumbent competing in the same liquid-alts and currency categories with broader scale and distribution.
• ProShares: Large alternative and leveraged ETF sponsor with extensive managed futures and multi-strategy products. Overlaps with Simplify across liquid alternatives and advisor distribution.
• First Trust: Large ETF sponsor offering income, managed futures, and thematic strategies. Comparable as an established alternative-ETF incumbent distributing through the same advisor and institutional channels.
• Direxion: Established leveraged and alternative-strategy ETF sponsor. Overlaps with Simplify in derivatives-based and tactical-strategy products targeting active advisors.

Direct peers

• Cambria Funds: Independent ETF sponsor of similar size to Simplify, focused on alternative, income, and tactical-strategy ETFs. Directly comparable as a boutique alternatives ETF manager competing for the same advisor channel.
• Alpha Architect: Boutique ETF sponsor offering quantitative, factor, and alternative-strategy ETFs. Comparable as a similarly sized, research-driven alternatives manager with overlapping product themes and advisor-distribution focus.
• iM Global Partner: Asset manager whose US ETFs include the $1.9B iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF), which Simplify is explicitly cloning. Direct peer in the managed futures ETF category.
• ETF Managers Group (ETFMG): ETF sponsor and white-label platform provider focused on thematic and alternative strategies. Comparable as a similarly positioned boutique platform developing niche, advisor-focused ETFs.

Emerging players

• KraneShares: Niche ETF sponsor focused on thematic and alternative strategies. Comparable as an emerging player building differentiated ETF products for the advisor channel.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Simplify Asset Management