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Portfolio > Portfolio Construction

New Women-Led RIA to Focus on Impact Investing: Portfolio Products

By Emily Zulz

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Nia Impact Capital, a women-led registered investment advisor, launched with the focus of helping wealth management professionals meet the growing demand for impact investing solutions.

The new firm was founded by impact investor Kristin Hull, who will act as CEO and chief investment officer.

“Nia Impact Capital is the next step in our evolution and is inspired by our mission to create world-class impact investing solutions with an emphasis on women,” Hull said in a statement. “Our team is focused on supporting wealth professionals to meet the growing interest from their clients to align their wealth and their values.”

The firm’s flagship portfolio, Nia Global Solutions Equity Portfolio, seeks to deliver a competitive rate of return, while creating positive impact for investors. In 2017, the portfolio delivered a 37.59% return, outperforming the S&P 500 index by 15.77%.

Nia Global Solutions Equity Portfolio is designed to complement an advisor’s existing equity strategy. It consists of 45 to 50 publicly traded stocks, and allocates capital to companies with diversity in its leadership. Typically, 65% or more of the portfolio is invested in small- and mid-cap stocks. The portfolio meets the firm’s rigorous impact investing criteria, which includes a strong gender lens focus.

Direxion Advisors Launches New Suite of ETFs for Long-Term Investors 

Direxion Advisors launched a new family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Portfolio+ ETFs offer access to manageable levels of added daily exposure to magnify returns in a cost-effective, transparent, liquid structure.

The funds provide 25% added daily exposure to popular broad-based indexes targeted by advisors. The lightly leveraged solutions can be applied to common asset allocation strategies to seek greater upside potential over time. Although intended for use by investors who monitor their portfolios, their low leverage point allows them to be managed within a longer-term portfolio.

The funds include: Portfolio+ S&P 500 ETF (formerly Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bull 1.25X Shares), Portfolio+ S&P Mid Cap ETF, Portfolio+ S&P Small Cap ETF (formerly Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 1.25X Shares), Portfolio+ Developed Markets ETF, Portfolio+ Emerging Markets ETF, and Portfolio+ Total Bond Market ETF.

Innovation Shares Launches NextGen Vehicles & Technology ETF

Innovation Shares launched a new ETF, the Innovation Shares NextGen Vehicles & Technology ETF (EKAR), that began trading on the NYSE Arca on Feb. 13.

EKAR’s underlying index was constructed utilizing a natural language processing algorithm that screens for global stocks that have exposure to the theme of electric and self-driving/autonomous vehicles.

Exchange Traded Concepts will serve as the advisor for EKAR, which has an expense ratio of 65 basis points.

Horizons ETFs & Cadence Capital Management Launch Hedged US Dividend Yield ETF

Horizons ETFs Management in partnership with Cadence Capital Management launched a new hedged U.S. dividend yield ETF.

The Horizons Cadence Hedged US Dividend Yield ETF (USDY) is a multi-factor ETF designed to deliver yield, reduce volatility and manage downside risk through the use of index options.

USDY invests in the dividend-paying stocks of large-cap companies within the market capitalization range of the Russell 1000 Index. The new ETF focuses on factors such as financial quality, companies’ history in meeting earnings and dividend targets and earnings quality to create its portfolio.

Hedging with index options seeks to provide lower overall portfolio volatility and enhance the risk-adjusted return profile for USDY. The hedge is achieved through a collar or sale of an out-of-the-money index call option with proceeds going to the purchase of an out-of-the-money index put option. 

New York Life Launches New Whole Life Insurance Product 

New York Life introduced Value Whole Life, a new lower-premium whole life product that gives policy owners guaranteed cash value with eligibility to receive future dividends.

The payment for Value Whole Life for a 50-year-old woman could be as much as 24% lower than standard whole life insurance policies available today (with a similar decline in cash value growth), according to New York Life.

“Value Whole Life is a beneficial whole life product for anyone with a need for permanent protection, but may be particularly attractive to many pre-retirees who are interested in leaving a legacy, but have continuing financial obligations such as mortgages and education,” according to Alex Cook, senior vice president, New York Life.

BondWave Launches Prevailing Market Price (PMP) Waterfall Solution

BondWave launched its Prevailing Market Price (PMP) “Waterfall” Solution, which is aimed at generating PMP values to support the pending markup disclosure regulations.

The solution, delivered via BondWave’s fixed income analytics platform Effi, enables financial services firms to control security of their trade data and customize the configuration based on their own definitions and parameters across all levels and steps in the waterfall.

The markup disclosure rule, scheduled for implementation on May 14, generally requires firms to disclose on their customer confirmation, markups and markdowns, based on the “Prevailing Market Price” (PMP) on corporate, agency and municipal bonds bought from or sold to retail customers on the same day that they are bought or sold for the firm’s own account (with certain exceptions). The rule prescribes how firms should determine the PMP, establishing a multilevel/multistep “waterfall” approach for determining the value.

BondWave’s solution has the flexibility to generate calculations at different time intervals, providing up to eight asynchronous values for the various levels and steps of the waterfall.

In addition, BondWave has an oversight and exception handling module, which identifies trades that are subject to disclosure, flags exceptions based on client-defined criteria, provides the ability to resolve them with supervisory controls, and gives access to a range of supporting PMP content to support regulatory inquires and management reporting.

Ossiam Launches Smart Beta Fixed Income ETF

Ossiam, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, launched the Ossiam Solactive Moody’s Analytics IG EUR Select Credit ETF (MOOC FP) on Euronext Paris.

The new smart beta fixed income ETF replicates the Solactive Moody’s Analytics IG EUR Select Credit Index (SOLMASCR), which differentiates itself from traditional credit benchmarks in seeking to maximize the total return of a liquid and diversified selection of EUR-denominated investment grade corporate bonds, while maintaining a low credit risk profile.

The ETF is available in one accumulating (1C) share class on Euronext Paris with a total expense ratio of 0.35%.

Fund Architects Launches All-Region Global ETF Portfolio

Fund Architects launched the Fund Architects First Trust All-Region Global ETF Portfolio, the latest offering in the firm’s Global ETF lineup.

Available as a separately managed account, the new investment offering will rely on the Fund Architects Multi-Factor Ranking System to identify timely investments among a carefully selected lineup of First Trust AlphaDEX Global/International ETFs.

In addition to the All-Region Global ETF Portfolio, Fund Architects will also rely on First Trust ETF offerings for its fixed income oriented Conservative Global ETF Portfolio and its U.S.-equity-oriented Tactical Unconstrained Growth Portfolio.

Financial Engines Expands Relationship With T. Rowe Price

Financial Engines significantly expanded its strategic relationship with T. Rowe Price to now offer Financial Engines’ full suite of advisory services and deliver an improved user experience to plan participants who have T. Rowe Price as their recordkeeper.

Under the expanded agreement, Financial Engines can deliver its full suite of advisory services to T. Rowe Price plan sponsor clients. In addition to online advice and professional management, the expanded services now include personalized professional management for all participant accounts (401(k), IRA and taxable accounts), retirement income planning solutions, and financial guidance and wellness programs.

Private Client Resources and AltaReturn Streamline Accounting and Reporting Operations for Family Offices

Private Client Resources announced a partnership with AltaReturn, a provider of back- and front-office solutions for the private equity and family office industries. The partnership aims to streamline accounting and reporting operations for single and multifamily offices.

The integrated solution will combine PCR’s data aggregation capabilities with AltaReturn’s accounting and reporting services to streamline the reconciliation and reporting function for both single and multifamily offices.

Automating the consolidation of information from the complex holdings of the ultra-high net worth has long been a challenge for family offices and their advisors, according to Private Client Resources.

The partnership aims to offer AltaReturn’s clients a total wealth aggregation solution that delivers actionable data from every asset class and instrument type directly into their accounting platform.

— Check out Riskalyze Rolls Out Retirement Solutions: Portfolio Products on ThinkAdvisor.

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