Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor

Portfolio > Portfolio Construction

Top Portfolio Products: State Street Launches SHE, a Gender Diversity ETF

By Marlene Y. Satter

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

New products and changes introduced over the last week include a gender diversity ETF from State Street Global Advisors, a core bond fund from Vanguard and a custom index from W.E. Donoghue & Co.

In addition, Bloomberg launched a liquidity risk tool; Envestnet|Tamarac integrated with Pershing’s NetX360 platform; and Gemini Hedge partnered with Hedge Connection.

Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:

1) SSGA Launches Gender Diversity ETF

State Street Global Advisors launched the SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity ETF (SHE), which tracks the performance of the SSGA Gender Diversity Index. The index is comprised of listed US large-cap companies with the highest levels of gender diversity on their boards of directors and in senior leadership positions within their sectors. 

According to an MSCI1 study tracking stock performance between December 2009 and August 2015, companies with at least three female board members on their corporate boards outperformed others in overall return on equity by more than 36%. Despite these findings, American women account for an average of just 16 percent of the members of executive teams, State Street reported. 

SHE features a diversified portfolio of 144 stocks across all U.S. sectors with the goal of isolating gender diversity as the primary factor exposure. The fund hopes to empower investors to encourage more gender diverse leadership.

2) Vanguard Launches Core Bond Fund

Vanguard introduced the Vanguard Core Bond Fund (VCORX), which invests primarily in high-quality bonds across the investment grade market, including Treasury, mortgage-backed, corporate and asset-backed securities of varying yields and maturities. The fund will limit its exposure to noninvestment-grade bonds to 5% of assets.

The fund is actively managed, employs a risk-controlled approach and seeks to outperform the broad-investment-grade U.S. fixed income market through disciplined security selection, sector allocation and duration decisions.

3) W.E. Donoghue Adds Momentum Index

W.E. Donoghue & Co. launched the Power Momentum Total Return Index (MOJO).

MOJO is a rules-based, mechanical index that equally weights the top five performing stocks in each of the 10 major stock sectors based on the Sharpe Ratio. Then the index chooses, based on a tactical overlay, whether to invest in those stocks or in Treasury securities, ranging from one-year bills to three-year notes.

4) Bloomberg Launches Liquidity Risk Tool

Bloomberg introduced its Liquidity Assessment Tool (LQA), which gives institutional investors a quantitative approach to calculating liquidity risk consistently across asset classes. While Bloomberg LQA covers government and corporate securities today, the methodology that underpins the tool can be applied consistently across asset classes, to assess liquidity risk at the portfolio level.

Bloomberg LQA provides risk managers, portfolio managers, traders and compliance officers with a standard definition of liquidity and a consistent approach to measuring the expected cost of liquidation for a specific volume of securities, and a desired time horizon. It also provides a score designed to indicate security-level liquidity with respect to liquidation cost and distributions across different volumes.

5) Envestnet|Tamarac Integrates with Pershing’s NetX360 Platform

Envestnet|Tamarac integrated its web-based, custodian-agnostic AdvisorXi suite with Pershing’s open-architecture platform NetX360. As part of the integration, registered investment advisors who custody with Pershing Advisor Solutions, and their clients, can obtain real-time account details directly from the Advisor View portfolio management, reporting and billing application.

Advisors can access account details, including cash balances, addresses and beneficiaries information when running the custodian account details report in Advisor View. They can also incorporate data in Advisor View’s holdings and transactions reports.

6) Gemini Hedge Partners with Hedge Connection

Gemini Hedge Fund Services partnered with Hedge Connection to expand its suite of distribution channels and relationships.

As part of the agreement between Gemini Hedge and Hedge Connection, the first year’s annual membership fee for Hedge Connection’s Capital Club investor introduction service will be waived for managers working with Gemini Hedge. The Capital Club includes detailed investment profiles on a diverse set of allocators who have been interviewed and vetted by Hedge Connection.

Read the March 4 Portfolio Products Roundup at ThinkAdvisor.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.