WisdomTree is looking to become a force in the exchange-traded fund industry.

WisdomTree Asset Management and WisdomTree Asset Management Canada have agreed to acquire Questrade Wealth Management and its sister company Questrade, Canadian online brokerage firm.

As part of the deal, WisdomTree Canada has agreed to acquire all of the exchange-traded funds currently managed by QWM, which amounts to approximately CAD$ 89 million ($70 million) in assets under management, the firm said in a statement.

This deal will also see WisdomTree Canada’s ETFs available for purchase on a commission-free basis on Questrade’s self-directed platform.

The firms have said “it is expected that for most of the funds, the Questrade ETFs will merge into existing ETFs managed by WisdomTree Canada, while WisdomTree Canada will become the trustee and manager for one of the existing Questrade ETFs.

The firms also added: “In either case, this will result in a change of the fund manager for those Questrade ETFs. Questrade will provide unitholders with further specific details of these transactions, including the record date and timing for the unitholder meetings to approve the change of trustee and manager and related mergers, as applicable, of the Questrade ETFs, will be issued at a later date.”

In addition, the parties will work together to develop and deploy a variety of ETF-focused educational initiatives and resources for Questrade clients, including webinars, newsletters and reports on investing topics.

WTAM will also become a consultant for QWM’s Portfolio IQ, an actively-managed low-cost online investment service.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory and unitholder approvals. 

"We're excited to be joining forces with Canada's leader in the online investing space and to be able to offer our suite of Canadian ETFs to Questrade clients,” said Kurt MacAlpine, head of global distribution, WisdomTree Investments. “Last year, we launched our first set of equity ETFs in Canada, and just recently, our first set of smart beta fixed income ETFs, which have been very well received. Today's announcement is another milestone for the growth of our business in this key market and reflects our strong commitment to Canada."

This publication recently reported WisdomTree Investments had launched its model portfolios on the Envestnet Wealth Management platform.