Fidelity Expands Model Portfolios: Portfolio Products

Fidelity Investments has expanded its universe of investment opportunities for advisors with the launch of new business cycle and factor ETF model portfolios.

The business cycle model portfolios incorporate a dynamic investment approach based on shifts in the business cycle, designed to enhance risk-adjusted returns. The offering includes:

• Fidelity Multi-Asset Business Cycle Model Portfolio, designed to provide enhanced risk-adjusted returns by overweighting asset classes and sectors that tend to outperform during a given business cycle phase, while underweighting those that tend to underperform
• Fidelity Sector Equity Business Cycle Model Portfolio, designed to provide enhanced risk-adjusted returns by overweighting sectors that tend to outperform during a given business cycle phase, while underweighting those that tend to underperform

These open architecture models use Fidelity mutual funds and ETFs in addition to ETFs from BlackRock iShares.

The factor ETF model portfolios uses only Fidelity factor ETFs and can function as a complement to existing U.S. equity positions or as standalone U.S. equity positions within a diversified portfolio. The offering includes:

• Fidelity U.S. Equity Factor ETF Model Portfolio, designed to provide enhanced risk-adjusted returns for clients looking for capital appreciation
• Fidelity U.S. Equity Defensive Factor ETF Model Portfolio, designed to help reduce risk and lower volatility, which may help clients who are more sensitive to market downturns
• Fidelity U.S. Equity Income Factor ETF Model Portfolio, designed to provide income generation and maximize realized dividend yield, which may benefit clients in or approaching retirement

“These new model portfolios leveraged the feedback we heard from advisors who were looking to incorporate specific strategies to complement the allocations in their clients’ portfolios,” said Matt Goulet, senior vice president, Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, in a statement.

Fidelity Model Portfolios are available to advisors at broker-dealers, RIAs, banks and insurance companies. More than 100 advisory firms have access to Fidelity Model Portfolios through turnkey platforms. 

A Consortium of Firms Offer Packaged Retirement Plan Program

LeafHouse, Voya Financial and several fund companies have joined together to offer FlexPrecision, a packaged program for retirement plans that streamlines plan administration for advisors and plan advisors while offering flexibility.

It “aims to provide investment solutions while reducing the workload associated with serving employer-based retirement plans,” according to LeafHouse, a national discretionary investment manager for retirement plans.

LeafHouse is responsible for the program’s fund selection, managed models and fund mapping; Voya Financial is the recordkeeper; and Dimensional, Franklin Templeton and Lord Abbett manage the funds.

“The advantages of working with this consortium allow financial advisors to concentrate on market opportunities and cultivate new business” whether they be retirement specialists or generalists, according to the LeafHouse statement.

Fiserv Integrates Retirement Income and Insurance Planning Tools

Fiserve, a global Fintech company, has introduced new tools and an enhanced user interface into its Financial Advice Financial suite to help advisors provide clients with retirement income planning and risk mitigation through the use of annuities, life, and long-term care insurance.

The enhancements optimize goals-based advice and include the ability for advisors to:

• Create multiple “what-if/?” scenarios and illustrate the impact of plan variants and decisions in real time with clients

• Simulate how long-term care insurance, life insurance, fixed and/or variable annuities and other products can improve a client’s financial outlook and protect against risk

• Utilize a framework and strategy to help clients transition from asset accumulation to retirement income

The Financial Advice Management suite includes financial planning, proposal generation and retirement cash flow and income analysis solutions designed to automate advisor workflow.

“Advisors’ ability to offer goals-based advice to clients on how to mitigate retirement risk through modeling various ‘what-if’ scenarios offers tremendous value to the practice of financial planning,” said Cheryl Nash, president, Investment Services, Fiserv.

“Through real-time collaboration with clients, advisors will be able to compare and contrast life scenarios side-by-side to identify and illustrate the best solution in the context of a client’s life goals and objectives, helping them create a holistic financial picture and plan.”

Addepar Launches Mobile App for iPhone

Addepar, a technology platform for wealth management, launched its mobile app for iPhone, giving financial advisors and their clients the ability to access their portfolio from their smartphones in a self-service, secure way at any time.

The new app uses two-factor authentication to safeguard client portfolio data and allows users to navigate through a portfolio’s ownership structure and to drill down by asset class, sector and individual security. Investors can quickly assess what’s in their portfolio, how it’s allocated and how their performance has changed over time.

Advisors can enable turnkey access for their clients to the Addepar mobile app via the in-product settings screen. The app for iPhone is available in the App Store.

“Today’s investors expect access to their portfolios from anywhere and at any time, with an app that is easy to understand, secure, and simple to use,” said Dwight Clancy, vice president of product at Addepar. “Built with the investor in mind, we’re excited to enhance the digital experience and bring to market a mobile app that provides a complete picture of complex portfolios, raising the client experience bar for private wealth management.”

— Check out last week’s portfolio product roundup here: Nuveen Expands Its Suite of ESG ETFs: Portfolio Products.