Cullen Capital Launches Dividend-Focused ETF

Cullen Capital Management LLC, a NY-based firm with $23 billion in assets under advisement, has launched an exchange-traded fund that offers income generation through a combination of dividends and covered-call premiums, according to the asset manager.

The Cullen Enhanced Equity Income ETF has launched on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker DIVP. The fund mimics the firm’s equity income strategy previously only available to investors through separately managed account and mutual fund offerings. The ETF is actively managed and comes with a net expense ratio of 0.55%.

“After 13 years of successfully running a dividend equity, covered call, separately managed account, there was strong client demand to offer the same strategy in an ETF vehicle,” said Jeff Cullen, the managing director at Cullen Capital.

DIVP integrates dividends from equity holdings with premiums from covered-call options written on approximately 25 to 40% of the underlying securities, according to Cullen. It aims, through this strategy, to offer higher income potential than other equity-income investments.

According to the fund prospectus, DIVP traditionally focuses at least 80% of investments in dividend-paying common stocks. The fund aims to own roughly 30-40 large-cap stocks that have a high dividend yield, while favoring those securities that exhibit strong value characteristics.

Cullen Capital has partnered with SEI Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund for portfolio management.