There’s active, and then there’s active.

On Oct. 2, Grail Advisors launched what some consider the first traditional “actively managed” equity exchange-traded funds, debuting four new products on the New York Stock Exchange. The new funds are:

• RiverPark Growth ETF (NYSEArca: RPX)
• RiverPark Focused Large Cap Growth ETF (NYSEArca: RWG)
• RiverPark Financials ETF (NYSEArca: RFF)
• RiverPark Technology ETF (NYSEArca: RPQ)

Quite a few actively managed ETFs have already launched, including the PowerShares Active Alpha MultiCap Fund (NYSEArca: PQZ) and the Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF (NYSEArca: GVT). But until today, all of those funds either used primarily quantitative strategies or relied on a multimanager format.

The RiverPark ETFs use what the Wall Street Journal referred to as “traditional, kick-the-tires stock pickers.”

Grail Advisors chief executive William Thomas said the launch was part of his firm’s aim to introduce a slew of new actively managed products to compete in the predominantly index-based ETF market.

“Our stated goal has been to bring a full lineup of traditional, active fund managers and strategies to the ETF marketplace,” said Thomas.

The funds charge 0.89 percent in annual expenses; expensive for ETFs, but below the average 0.99 percent fee for traditional mutual funds.

The funds will be managed by the New York-based RiverPark Advisors, a relatively new firm run by former executives and managers at Baron Funds.

The new funds will be fully transparent, disclosing their full portfolios at the end of the day.