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Impact Shares Partners With UN to Launch New ETF: Portfolio Products

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Impact Shares launched the Sustainable Development Goals Global Equity ETF (SDGA) in collaboration with the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the UN agency that makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries.

The new ETF allows investors to invest alongside companies that are deploying capital to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a universal call to action to reduce poverty and support economic development globally.

The fund also reflects the importance of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) efforts to increase transformative private sector investments in emerging local economies and ensure that no one is left behind.

“As a UN aid agency working in the world’s poorest countries, we are often asked by pension funds and socially-conscious investors how they can use their investment dollars to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” UNCDF Executive Secretary Judith Karl said in a statement. “This ETF offers those clients an exciting way to support the UN’s work while rewarding companies with accountable business practices and good management policies.”

The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Morningstar Societal Development Index, developed through a collaboration between UNCDF, Impact Shares, Morningstar and Sustainalytics. Companies included in the index are screened against a set of rigorous selection criteria reflecting customized environmental, social and corporate governance indicators and alignment with the SDGs.

PGIM Investments Launch a New High Yield Bond Fund

PGIM Investments launched its second actively managed exchange-traded fund, the PGIM Active High Yield Bond ETF (PHYL).

The PGIM Active High Yield Bond ETF (PHYL) is actively managed by sub-adviser PGIM Fixed Income. PHYL has 0.53% expense ratio.

The fund invests primarily in high yield bonds and seeks to generate total return through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

The firm’s first high yield bond ETF, the PGIM Ultra Short Bond ETF (PULS), was launched in April and has more than doubled in size, growing to $51 million as of August 31, 2018.

BNY Mellon’s Lockwood Adds Portfolios on Managed360 Program

BNY Mellon’s Lockwood Advisors, Inc. added 54 new model portfolios to its Managed360 program, nearly doubling the number of strategists and underlying model portfolios available to financial professionals.

This addition brings the total number of third-party model portfolios to 123 and strategists available via the program to 13.

Managed360 delivers a streamlined managed accounts experience, leveraging the power of Lockwood affiliate Pershing LLC’s NetX360 platform to help financial professionals scale their managed accounts business.

The latest additions are mostly globally diversified portfolios that provide advisors and reps with a wider range of options to help them meet investors’ evolving goals while also managing costs. View a list of the new strategists and models now available to clients on the Managed360 program here.

SEIA Launches ESG IMPACT Portfolio for Socially Conscious Investors

Wealth management firm Signature Estate and Investment Advisors (SEIA) launched its ESG IMPACT portfolio, an investment strategy comprised of investment vehicles that meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and socially responsible investment (SRI) criteria.

The ESG IMPACT portfolio aims to provide diversified global equity exposure for socially conscious investors at a low cost.

The portfolio consists of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds with the flexibility to use other investment vehicles as needed.

Litman Gregory Masters Funds Launches High Income Alternatives Fund

Litman Gregory Fund Advisors launched the Litman Gregory Masters High Income Alternatives Fund.

The fund is now available on most trading platforms in two share classes: Investor (MAHNX, minimum $1,000 and total fee 1.23%) and Institutional (MAHIX, minimum $100,000 and total fee 0.98%).

The fund seeks to generate a high level of current income from diverse sources, consistent with the goal of capital preservation over time. Capital appreciation is a second objective.

It is sub-advised by four managers that are focused on alternative sources of income relative to core fixed income. Ares Management manages the alternative equity income sleeve, which invests in specialty income-generating publicly traded equity sectors. Brown Brothers Harriman runs the credit value sleeve, investing in fixed income securities from a variety of sectors, with an emphasis on non-mainstream asset-backed securities.

Guggenheim Partners manages the fund’s multi-credit sleeve, investing in a wide range of fixed-income securities across multiple segments of the credit markets, and Neuberger Berman oversees the option income sleeve, which writes collateralized put options on U.S. stock indices.

Betterment for Advisors Adds New Feature to Open ‘Trust Accounts’

Betterment for Advisors added a new feature – Trust Account Openings – to its platform.

The new feature gives advisors on the platform the ability to open trust accounts on behalf of clients who have an established trust. Previously, clients had to initiate this process; now, advisors can manage the entire paperless process, requiring clients to only review and sign off on the details.

RightCapital Launches Mobile App to Help Advisors Meet Clients’ Planning Goals

RightCapital launched the RightCapital App – a white-labeled, native mobile app that connects clients with their advisors so that they can coordinate in real time on financial planning needs, anytime, anywhere.

The app is a direct complement to the current client portal on the RightCapital platform. Client access on the app mimics what is set up by the advisor on the platform, providing a seamless experience from computer to phone.

The RightCapital App allows advisors’ clients to view account balances, review their budget, categorize account transactions and link accounts. In addition, the app contains a financial planning component that provides clients the flexibility to see their probability of success relative to their goals, helping the client focus on their holistic financial plan rather than short-term daily market movements.

The app also has an interactive client facing task function. Advisors can assign specific goals-oriented tasks to clients as part of financial plan implementation and ongoing touch points. The app enables clients to view all outstanding and completed activities in an interactive list. Plus, the client receives notifications on their phone regarding upcoming assignments.

Totum Risk Taps FinMason to Expand Portfolio Analytics Suite 

Fintech firm FinMason has partnered with Totum Risk, a multi-dimensional risk tolerance questionnaire that helps financial advisors understand how much risk their clients can comfortably take based on their current life situation.

With this new partnership, FinMason will deliver robust portfolio analytics via their FinRiver API to power intuitive graphs and charts within Totum Risk’s on-demand reports.

Where many risk tolerance tools are single-faceted, Totum Risk scores each client on two distinct components: Risk Capacity, or how much risk they can afford to take, and Risk Preference, or how much risk they want to take. These two scores are then weighed against the investor’s current portfolio to determine how much risk they should be taking.

This approach sets advisors up to understand a client’s risk from various perspectives – life situation, preferences, and portfolio risk – resulting in a more thorough understanding of each investor’s unique circumstances, and ultimately a more appropriate and accurate investment strategy.

—Read last week’s portfolio product roundup here: Vanguard Launches 2 New Low-Cost ESG ETFs: Portfolio Products


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