“The experience and knowledge of the EGA team and strong emerging markets ETF products will complement our existing actively managed product lineup,” said Ted Truscott, chief executive at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. “The EGA acquisition will allow us to reach even more investors and accelerates our efforts as we build our smart beta capabilities.”

Meanwhile, as part of an effort to enter the smart beta marketplace, Columbia Threadneedle Investments filed with the SEC a preliminary registration statement relating to equity smart beta ETFs – including the Columbia Sustainable Global Equity Income, Columbia Sustainable International Equity Income and Columbia Sustainable US Equity Income ETFs – in the first quarter of 2016. The “sustainable” elements refer to index constituents based on their environmental, social and governance practices.

“Now our clients gain access to Columbia Threadneedle’s rich investment expertise, while continuing to benefit from EGA’s experience converting investment insights into rules-based, smart beta strategies,” said Marten Hoekstra, chief executive at EGA.

Terms of the EGA acquisition were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close later this year.