For the first time, Ariel is moving into exchange-traded funds, which have been squeezing fee income collected by traditional money managers like Ariel. Ariel also recently disclosed novel plans to make direct investments in other companies under a program designed to create minority-owned firms and expand others. And a new office in San Francisco, its third, aims to corral tech and other West Coast wealth.
Hobson's expanding influence marks a turning point for Ariel, a leading Black-owned firm in Chicago. Founded by Rogers in 1983, it's also one of the city's few significant mutual fund companies.
"They've tossed around the term Ariel 2.0," Morningstar analyst Adam Sabban says of the thrust.