Top Portfolio Products: 3 New ETFs From Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management

Neuberger Berman Group LLC announced recently the launch of the Neuberger Berman Emerging Markets Income Fund (NERAX, NERCX, NERIX). Lead managers for the fund are Rob Drijkoningen and Gorky Urquieta, co-heads of the firm’s emerging markets debt team, as well as Jennifer Gorgoll, Raoul Luttik, Nish Popat, and Bart van der Made.

The 22-person investment team includes 12 portfolio managers, 6 credit analysts and four economists and strategists, operating from offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Direxion Launches Long/Short Global Currency Fund

Direxion announced Tuesday that it has expanded its suite of alternative-strategy mutual funds with the introduction of the Direxion Long/Short Global Currency Fund (DXAFX). DXAFX offers investors a way to obtain direct exposure to currencies in a range of markets around the world.

The actively managed fund utilizes a rules-based, long/short investment approach developed by Direxion based on the methodology of the Morgan Stanley Multi FX Enhanced V10 USD Index. It can take a long or short position in 19 eligible currencies in both developed and emerging markets. Its strategy places equal emphasis on four factors — interest rates, inflation, open interest and stock index performance—when determining whether to invest long or short on an individual currency. The strategy is designed to target a volatility level of 10%, and rebalances portfolio allocations on a monthly basis, at a minimum. Ramius Launches Event Driven Equity Mutual Fund

Ramius, the global investment management business of Cowen Group, announced the launch of the Ramius Event Driven Equity Fund (REDIX, REDAX), an actively managed alternative mutual fund providing investors with daily liquidity and exposure to a broad spectrum of transformative corporate events. The strategy focuses on publicly listed companies that are targets of shareholder activism, mergers, spinoffs, recapitalizations and restructurings.

Co-portfolio managers Andrew Cohen and Ethan Johnson oversee investments in the fund, which will be managed by Ramius Advisors LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ramius.

American Independence, Cougar Global Investments Announce Teaming

American Independence Financial Services announced Tuesday a strategic partnership with Cougar Global Investments Ltd. Under the agreement, American Independence will provide separately managed accounts (SMAs) and funds based on Cougar Global’s ETF-based macroeconomic assessment of risk (MAR) strategy to address downside risk management. American Independence will provide oversight, marketing, administration and execution. The portfolios will be marketed to financial intermediaries in the U.S.

The Cougar Global MAR strategies employ a top-down investment discipline that seeks to achieve the compound growth rate required for investors to meet their specific financial goals over time, while managing downside risk and projecting the probability of negative returns in any given year. The investment process incorporates multiple macroeconomic scenario analyses and third-party research. It then constructs portfolios designed to perform with the appropriate risk/return trade-offs for its four models: MAR tactical conservative growth, MAR tactical moderate growth, MAR tactical growth and MAR tactical aggressive growth.

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Read the Sept. 27 Portfolio Products Roundup at ThinkAdvisor.