Document ID: SEC-2019-0635-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Application: Toroso Investments, LLC and Tidal ETF Trust
Posted Date: 2019-05-13T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 92 (Monday, May 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20933-20935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09800]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Investment Company Act Release No. 33469; 812-14996]

Toroso Investments, LLC and Tidal ETF Trust; Notice of 
Application

May 8, 2019.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice of an application under section 6(c) of the Investment 
Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') for an exemption from section 15(a) of 
the Act and rule 18f-2

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under the Act, as well as from certain disclosure requirements in rule 
20a-1 under the Act, Item 19(a)(3) of Form N-1A, Items 22(c)(1)(ii), 
22(c)(1)(iii), 22(c)(8) and 22(c)(9) of Schedule 14A under the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Sections 6-07(2)(a), (b), and (c) 
of Regulation S-X (``Disclosure Requirements''). The requested 
exemption would permit an investment adviser to hire and replace 
certain sub-advisers without shareholder approval and grant relief from 
the Disclosure Requirements as they relate to fees paid to the sub-
advisers.

Applicants: Tidal ETF Trust (the ``Trust''), a Delaware statutory trust 
registered under the Act as an open-end management investment company 
with multiple series, and Toroso Investments, LLC (the ``Initial 
Adviser''), a Delaware limited liability company registered as an 
investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Filing Dates: The application was filed on January 9, 2019.

Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the application 
will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. Interested 
persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's Secretary 
and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally or by 
mail. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by 5:30 
p.m. on June 3, 2019, and should be accompanied by proof of service on 
applicants, in the form of an affidavit or, for lawyers, a certificate 
of service. Pursuant to rule 0-5 under the Act, hearing requests should 
state the nature of the writer's interest, any facts bearing upon the 
desirability of a hearing on the matter, the reason for the request, 
and the issues contested. Persons who wish to be notified of a hearing 
may request notification by writing to the Commission's Secretary.

ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090. Applicants: Toroso Investments, 
LLC and Tidal ETF Trust, 898 N Broadway, Suite 2, Massapequa, New York 
11758.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Corrigan, Senior Counsel, at 
(202) 551-8929, or Parisa Haghshenas, Branch Chief, at (202) 551-6723 
(Division of Investment Management, Chief Counsel's Office).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the 
application. The complete application may be obtained via the 
Commission's website by searching for the file number, or for an 
applicant using the Company name box, at http://www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or by calling (202) 551-8090.

Summary of the Application

    1. The Initial Adviser is the investment adviser to the Aware 
Ultra-Short Duration Enhanced Income ETF (the ``Initial Fund''), a 
series of the Trust, pursuant to an investment management agreement 
with the Trust (``Investment Management Agreement'').\1\ Under the 
terms of the Investment Management Agreement, the Adviser, subject to 
the supervision of the board of trustees of the Trust (``Board''), will 
provide continuous investment management of the assets of each 
Subadvised Fund. Consistent with the terms of the Investment Management 
Agreement, the Adviser may, subject to the approval of the Board, 
delegate portfolio management responsibilities of all or a portion of 
the assets of a Subadvised Fund to one or more Sub-Advisers.\2\ The 
Adviser will continue to have overall responsibility for the management 
and investment of the assets of each Subadvised Fund. The Adviser will 
evaluate, select, and recommend Sub-Advisers to manage the assets of a 
Subadvised Fund and will oversee, monitor and review the Sub-Advisers 
and their performance and recommend the removal or replacement of Sub-
Advisers.
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    \1\ Applicants request relief with respect to the Initial Fund, 
as well as to any future series of the Trust and any other existing 
or future registered open-end management investment company or 
series thereof that, in each case, is advised by the Initial Adviser 
or any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control 
with, the Initial Adviser or its successors (each, also an 
``Adviser''), uses the multi-manager structure described in the 
application, and complies with the terms and conditions set forth in 
the application (each, a ``Subadvised Fund''). For purposes of the 
requested order, ``successor'' is limited to an entity that results 
from a reorganization into another jurisdiction or a change in the 
type of business organization. Future Subadvised Funds may be 
operated as a master-feeder structure pursuant to section 
12(d)(1)(E) of the Act. In such a structure, certain series of the 
Trust (each, a ``Feeder Fund'') may invest substantially all of 
their assets in a Subadvised Fund (a ``Master Fund'') pursuant to 
section 12(d)(1)(E) of the Act. No Feeder Fund will engage any sub-
advisers other than through approving the engagement of one or more 
of the Master Fund's sub-advisers.
    \2\ As used herein, a ``Sub-Adviser'' for a Subadvised Fund is 
(1) an indirect or direct ``wholly owned subsidiary'' (as such term 
is defined in the Act) of the Adviser for that Subadvised Fund, or 
(2) a sister company of the Adviser for that Subadvised Fund that is 
an indirect or direct ``wholly-owned subsidiary'' of the same 
company that, indirectly or directly, wholly owns the Adviser (each 
of (1) and (2) a ``Wholly-Owned Sub-Adviser'' and collectively, the 
``Wholly-Owned Sub-Advisers''), or (3) not an ``affiliated person'' 
(as such term is defined in section 2(a)(3) of the Act) of the 
Subadvised Fund, any Feeder Fund invested in a Master Fund, the 
Trust, or the Adviser, except to the extent that an affiliation 
arises solely because the Sub-Adviser serves as a sub-adviser to a 
Subadvised Fund (``Non-Affiliated Sub-Advisers'').
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    2. Applicants request an exemption to permit the Adviser, subject 
to Board approval, to hire certain Sub-Advisers pursuant to Sub-
Advisory Agreements and materially amend existing Sub-Advisory 
Agreements without obtaining the shareholder approval required under 
section 15(a) of the Act and rule 18f-2 under the Act.\3\ Applicants 
also seek an exemption from the Disclosure Requirements to permit a 
Subadvised Fund to disclose (as both a dollar amount and a percentage 
of the Subadvised Fund's net assets): (a) The aggregate fees paid to 
the Adviser and any Wholly-Owned Sub-Adviser; (b) the aggregate fees 
paid to Non-Affiliated Sub-Advisers; and (c) the fee paid to each 
Affiliated Sub-Adviser (collectively, Aggregate Fee Disclosure'').\4\
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    \3\ The requested relief will not extend to any sub-adviser, 
other than a Wholly-Owned Sub-Adviser, who is an affiliated person, 
as defined in section 2(a)(3) of the Act, of the Subadvised Fund, of 
any Feeder Fund, or of the Adviser, other than by reason of serving 
as a sub-adviser to one or more of the Subadvised Funds 
(``Affiliated Sub-Adviser'').
    \4\ For any Subadvised Fund that is a Master Fund, the relief 
would also permit any Feeder Fund invested in that Master Fund to 
disclose Aggregate Fee Disclosure.
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    3. Applicants agree that any order granting the requested relief 
will be subject to the terms and conditions stated in the application. 
Such terms and conditions provide for, among other safeguards, 
appropriate disclosure to Subadvised Funds' shareholders and 
notification about sub-advisory changes and enhanced Board oversight to 
protect the interests of the Subadvised Funds' shareholders.
    4. Section 6(c) of the Act provides that the Commission may exempt 
any person, security, or transaction or any class or classes of 
persons, securities, or transactions from any provisions of the Act, or 
any rule thereunder, if such relief is necessary or appropriate in the 
public interest and consistent with the protection of investors and 
purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of the Act. 
Applicants believe that the requested relief meets this standard 
because, as further explained in the application, the Investment 
Management Agreement will remain subject to shareholder approval, while 
the role of the Sub-Advisers is substantially equivalent to that of 
individual portfolio managers, so that requiring shareholder approval 
of Sub-Advisory Agreements would impose unnecessary delays and expenses 
on the Subadvised Funds. Applicants believe that the requested relief 
from the

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Disclosure Requirements meets this standard because it will improve the 
Adviser's ability to negotiate fees paid to the Sub-Advisers that are 
more advantageous for the Subadvised Funds.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, 
under delegated authority.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-09800 Filed 5-10-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P