Top Portfolio Products: Schwab Adds Commission-Free ETFs

New products and changes introduced over the last week include an expansion of Schwab’s commission-free ETFs; three ETFs from Compass EMP; an ETF from Tortoise; and an ETF from First Trust.

Also, Vanguard added institutional target retirement funds; S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the launch of the S&P 500 Bond Index; FTJ FundChoice launched an investment management and reporting technology platform; and New York Life completed its acquisition of a participating whole life insurance block from John Hancock.

Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:

1) Schwab Adds Commission-Free ETFs

Charles Schwab has announced that it has added J.P. Morgan Asset Management as an ETF provider, and has also added nine ETFs to the Schwab ETF OneSource commission-free program.

The funds that have been added to OneSource are: Direxion Value Line Small- and Mid-Cap High Dividend ETF (VLSM); ETFS Diversified-Factor U.S. Large Cap Index Fund (SBUS); JPMorgan Diversified Return Global Equity ETF (JPGE); JPMorgan Diversified Return International Equity ETF (JPIN); JPMorgan Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF (JPEM); WisdomTree Germany Hedged Equity Fund (DXGE); WisdomTree Japan Hedged Dividend Growth Fund (JHDG); WisdomTree Japan Hedged Small-Cap Equity Fund (DXJS); and WisdomTree Europe Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund (EUSC).

2) Compass EMP Adds Three ETFs

Compass EMP has launched the Compass EMP US Small Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index ETF (CSA), Compass EMP US Large Cap High Dividend 100 Volatility Weighted Index ETF (CDL) and Compass EMP US Small Cap High Dividend 100 Volatility Weighted Index ETF (CSB).

CSA seeks to provide investment results that track the performance of the CEMP US Small Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index before fees and expenses. The index is a passive broad market index consisting of the common stock of the 500 largest U.S.-based companies with a market capitalization of less than $3 billion with four quarters of positive earnings weighted based on their daily standard deviation (volatility).

CDL seeks to provide investment results that track the performance of the CEMP US Large Cap High Dividend 100 Volatility Weighted Index before fees and expenses. The index is a passive broad market index consisting of the common stock of the highest 100 dividend-yielding stocks of the CEMP U.S. Large Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index. The 100 largest U.S.-based companies with four quarters of positive earnings are weighted based on their daily standard deviation.

CSB seeks to provide investment results that track the performance of the CEMP US Small Cap High Dividend 100 Volatility Weighted Index before fees and expenses. The index is a passive index and generally consists of the common stock of the 100 highest dividend-yielding stocks of the CEMP U.S. Small Cap 500 Volatility Weighted Index. The index securities are then weighted based on their daily standard deviation.

3) Tortoise Adds ETF

Tortoise has announced the launch of the Tortoise North American Pipeline Fund (TPYP) through Tortoise Index Solutions, its index business.

TPYP is designed to track the performance of the Tortoise North American Pipeline Index, a benchmark representing the pipeline sector. TPYP will employ a passive management investment approach designed to correspond generally to TNAPT’s total return performance.

4) First Trust Adds Cybersecurity ETF