The folks at a 42-year-old fund firm in the Midwest are entering the ETF space, launching their first ETF now and planning to launch a second before the end of the year.

James J. "Jim" Boyne Weitz Investment Management President

Yesterday (August 13), Jim Boyne, president of Weitz Investment Management, Inc. [profile], unveiled the launch of the Weitz Core Plus Bond ETF (WPCB on the NYSE Arca, Inc.), and he highlighted the planned Weitz Multisector Bond ETF (WMSB). Omaha, Nebraska-based Weitz will serve as investment advisor to both ETFs.

The Weitz team confirms that they plan to roll out WMSB in Q4 2025, while WCPB's inception date was Tuesday (August 12). WCPB comes with an expense ratio of 45 basis points (which bakes in a 33bps fee waiver*) and has $627,000 in AUM**. WMSB will come with an expense ratio of 65bps (which bakes in a 24bps fee waiver*).

WMSB and WCPB will be PMed by the same two portfolio managers, Nolan Anderson and Tom Carney, who also serve as co-heads of fixed income at Weitz. The duo also already PMs Weitz's 11-year-old Weitz Core Plus Income Fund, which with about $3.441 billion in AUM*** is now far and away the single-biggest fund offered by the $6.487-billion-AUM**** fund firm.

Lori Dorsey, senior vice president and chief client officer at Weitz, calls taking the ETF plunge "a natural extension of [Weitz's] mission: to provide differentiated outcomes that meet the needs of advisors and their clients."

"Whether in mutual funds, ETFs, or separately managed accounts, we remain focused on delivering thoughtful, long-term solutions," Dorsey states.

"Both of these funds build on our fixed income experience — one by offering a familiar approach in a new structure, and the other by introducing a new strategy guided by the same disciplined process," Boyne states. "In both cases, we're expanding access to the kind of thoughtful, risk-aware investing that has defined Weitz for decades."

"Our philosophy doesn't change with the product structure," Carney states, noting that he and Anderson are "still doing the same rigorous work."

As for the planned multisector ETF, Anderson describes that fund as "another way to express the full breadth of [Weitz's] research."

"We're not chasing yield or benchmarks," Anderson states. "We're looking for where we can be paid to take risk."

WCPB and WMSB are both actively managed, non-diversified series of Northern Lights Fund Trust II. The two ETFs' other service providers include:

Alston & Bird LLP as counsel;

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH) as custodian, dividend disbursing agent, shareholder servicing agent, and transfer agent;

Tait, Weller & Baker LLP as independent accounting firm;

Ultimus Fund Solutions, LLC as administrator and fund accountant; and

Ultimus' Northern Lights Distributors, LLC as distributor.

*Promised through Septmber 30, 2026.

**As of August 13, 2025 (yesterday).

***As of June 30, 2025.

****As of January 31, 2025, per Weitz's most recent form ADV. 

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