This past week, Deutsche Bank rebranded 5 ETFs; Gemini launched a second mutual fund trust; The Phoenix Companies introduced a new annuity; and Strategic Insight and PLANSPONSOR jointly announced a new version of Pathfinder.
1) Deutsche Bank Rebrands 5 ETFs as Target Date Funds
Deutsche Bankannounced on June 21 the rebranding of five ETFs to join its recently launched db-X suite of products. The five funds, previously known as the TDX Independence Funds, are now known as the db-X Target Date Funds. They seek to track the Zacks Lifecycle indexes and are designed to provide investors with a single investment to diversify across domestic equities, international equities and fixed income, based on a fixed investment horizon.
The rebranding doubles the number of ETFs offered under Deutsche Bank’s db-X umbrella. The funds and their new names are as follows:
- db-X 2010 Target Date Fund (TDD), formerly TDX Independence 2010 ETF;
- db-X 2020 Target Date Fund (TDH), formerly TDX Independence 2020 ETF;
- db-X 2030 Target Date Fund (TDN), formerly TDX Independence 2030 ETF;
- db-X 2040 Target Date Fund (TDV), formerly TDX Independence 2040 ETF;and
- db-X In-Target Date Fund (TDX), formerly TDX Independence In-Target ETF.
2) Gemini Launches Northern Lights Fund Trust II
Gemini Fund Services, LLC said on June 21 that it launched of Northern Lights Fund Trust II (NLFT II), its second shared mutual fund trust. Through the trust, Gemini partners with advisors to develop pooled investment solutions, focusing on alternative investment funds in order to help meet growing market demand.
NLFT II, like the first Northern Lights Fund Trust, is a shared mutual fund trust of independent funds, all managed by separate advisors. The original trust has proven very successful, doubling assets in 2010 and increasing by another 20% in the first quarter of 2011.
To date, the original trust has almost 70 funds and more than $5.6 billion in assets. So far, advisors managing five funds have joined the new trust to gain operational efficiency, economies of scale, regulatory compliance and board oversight, and fund sales on a scale otherwise not achievable.