Springer Harris

Springer Harris is the author of "Get ETF'd: An Insider's Guide to Starting and Running an ETF" and has spent his entire career in the ETF industry. He joined TuCream right out of college before the firm had even launched its first fund, and has served as portfolio manager and Chief Operating Officer there for 14 years. Along the way, he became the person everyone called when they wanted to know how to launch their own ETF, which eventually led to the book. On this episode of Behind the Ticker, Springer joins Brad for a practical, no-nonsense conversation about what it actually takes to bring an ETF to market.

14 Years Inside the ETF Machine

Springer almost didn't end up in ETFs. Out of college, he was invited to join TuCream but chose a corporate path first, joining a major global PR firm working on emerging social media campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. He didn't even know what Twitter was when he started. About a year in, he realized that even if he put his head down and ground hard for a decade, the ceiling was that office down the hall. So he called TuCream back, and the offer still stood. They had one fund live at that point. Fourteen years later, he's been through every phase of building and running an ETF business from scratch.

That experience is what gives the book its credibility. This isn't theory from a consultant who's never launched a product. Springer has lived through the launch process, the distribution grind, the compliance challenges, and the moments where you have to decide whether to keep a product alive or shut it down. He describes TuCream's open-door policy: anyone who wanted to learn about launching an ETF was welcome to ask questions. The book is essentially the formalized version of hundreds of those conversations.

The Two Biggest Misconceptions

Brad asked Springer for the number one misconception people have when they want to launch an ETF. The answer came in two parts.

First: not everything can be an ETF. People come in with strategies that fundamentally don't fit the ETF wrapper. Springer gives the example of someone who said they might make anywhere between zero and a thousand trades per day but start and end each day in cash. That can't be an ETF. The wrapper has structural requirements around transparency, liquidity, and creation/redemption mechanics that make certain strategies incompatible. Some are better suited for closed-end funds, hedge funds, or SMAs.

Second, and more common: "if I build it, they will come." The belief that putting a great strategy into an ETF wrapper will automatically attract assets is catastrophically wrong. Springer is emphatic about this. You can build the best ETF in the world, and if you don't have a distribution plan, nobody is going to find it. The graveyard of dead ETFs is full of excellent strategies that nobody ever heard about. Distribution planning needs to happen before you file the paperwork, not after.

The ETF Industry's Secret: It's a Family

One thing that surprised Brad when he entered the ETF industry was how collaborative and welcoming the community is compared to other parts of finance. Springer confirms this emphatically. He describes the ETF industry as an extremely close-knit family. Despite being hyper-competitive (if you have an idea, assume two other people are working on it harder and faster), the culture is one of open sharing. You can call anyone in the industry and ask how they handled a specific challenge, and they'll tell you. The competition is fierce but not cutthroat.

Springer attributes this to the rising-tide-lifts-all-boats dynamic. The ETF industry is growing so rapidly that helping a peer succeed doesn't hurt your business. The total pie is expanding faster than individual competitors can eat it. This dynamic is what makes the industry special and why so many people who enter it stay for their entire careers.

The Patience Factor

Brad and Springer discussed the timeline reality that most new ETF issuers underestimate. Getting a product to market takes months of regulatory work, service provider selection, and legal filings. Then comes the hardest part: the wait. AUM doesn't materialize overnight. Springer notes that even well-distributed products can take 12-18 months to gain meaningful traction, and some of the most successful ETFs in the market today had very slow starts. The entrepreneurs who succeed are the ones with enough capital, patience, and conviction to survive the early period when assets are light and the management fees don't cover the operating costs.

Key Takeaways

• The number one misconception about launching an ETF is "if I build it, they will come." Distribution planning must happen before filing paperwork, not after. Great strategies die without distribution.
• Not everything can be an ETF. Strategies with extreme daily turnover, illiquid assets, or structural incompatibilities with the creation/redemption mechanism belong in other wrappers.
• The ETF industry is hyper-competitive but remarkably collaborative. You can call anyone and ask how they solved a problem, and they'll share the answer. Competition without being cutthroat.
• Springer has 14 years at TuCream as portfolio manager and COO. The book "Get ETF'd" is available on Amazon in Kindle and print, and he's active on LinkedIn and ETF Central.
• Patience and capital reserves are essential. Even well-distributed ETFs can take 12-18 months to gain traction, and the early period rarely covers operating costs.

Listen to the full conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.