Dodge & Cox Launches First New Fund in 6 Years

Putnam Investments has officially launched Target-date strategies offered by different asset managers may have many features in common, but no two are exactly alike,” said McKay. “In some cases, the differences can be difficult to determine, making it hard to select strategies that are right for the goals of the plan and its participants. With its product-agnostic approach, TargetDateVisualizer should prove to be enormously helpful to advisors when embarking on the challenging, but critically important process of identifying the optimal target-date strategy for their clients.” TargetDateVisualizer, which is designed to help advisors better guide plan sponsors in selecting appropriate target-date mutual funds and collective investment trusts (CITs) for inclusion in workplace savings plans, based on specific risk-tolerance preferences and investment philosophy.

“Target-date strategies offered by different asset managers may have many features in common, but no two are exactly alike,” said Steven P. McKay, head of Defined Contribution Investment Only (DCIO) at Putnam. “In some cases, the differences can be difficult to determine, making it hard to select strategies that are right for the goals of the plan and its participants.”

Interactive Brokers Launches US Spot Gold Trading

Interactive Brokers Group has launched US GOLD, enabling clients to trade U.S. spot gold in amounts as small as one ounce, side-by-side with other asset classes from a single, integrated account. Starting May 17, U.S. clients will be able to request physical delivery settlement of COMEX Gold and Silver futures directly from their accounts.

US GOLD transactions have low and transparent tiered commissions from 0.7 to 1.5 basis points of trade value with a minimum of $2.00 and are available in quantities as small as one ounce.

Interactive Brokers clients can also request some or all of their US GOLD positions in one-ounce increments for physical delivery in the United States. Clients will also be able to request physical delivery settlement of COMEX Gold, Micro Gold, Silver, and Micro Silver Futures in the form of a registered warrant or automated certificate of exchange (ACE) for each full size or Micro contract starting May 17.

Clients who meet credit requirements will be able to indicate their intention to take or make delivery directly from Trader WorkStation.www.ibkr.com/usgold.

First Trust, Others Roll Out ETFs

First Trust Advisors has launched the actively managed First Trust New York Municipal High Income ETF (FMNY), which trades on the NYSE Arca and has an expense ratio of 0.50%

The fund  applies both quantitative analysis and fundamental research to seek higher-yielding undervalued securities within the municipal market.

ETF Managers Group (ETFMG), which brought investors the first U.S. listed and world’s largest global cannabis ETF, known as MJ, has introduced the ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF ( MJUS) on the New York Stock Exchange.

MJUS offers investors exposure to cannabis companies operating in the United States, including multi-state operators (MSOs) directly involved in the cultivation, production, marketing and distribution of cannabis or cannabis-related products. It has a 0.75% expense ratio.

MJUS  invests in cannabis companies within the Prime U.S. Alternative Harvest Index that derive at least 50% of their net revenue in the United States and in derivatives that have economic characteristics similar to such securities.

Legal cannabis sales in the U.S. exceeded $17.5 billion in 2020, representing a 46% increase over 2019’s $12.1 billion of sales and the rapid expansion of the U.S. cannabis industry is expected to continue and ultimately generate $85 billion in sales by 2030, according to ETFMG.

Simplify Asset Management  has rolled out two first-of-their-kind ETFs: The Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX), which hedges against rising long-term interest rates and the  Simplify Volatility Premium ETF (SVOL)  which is a VIX income strategy with an option hedge. Both have expense ratios of 0.50%.

PFIX uses over-the-counter derivatives, typically only available to institutional investors, investing half its NAV at launch into a long-dated option on long-term interest rates. By carefully selecting option strike, time to expiry, and the underlying rate maturity, PFIX attempts to create a low-cost, powerful and highly convex position.

SVOL  buys call options on the VIX as a means of hedging against adverse spikes in equity market volatility and invests in a short volatility strategy designed to generate substantial income while minimizing volatility drag. Simplify says it is the first-ever VIX income strategy with an option hedge.

SoFi has launched SoFi Weekly Dividend ETF ( WKLY) listed on the NYSE,  the first equity ETF designed to provide a weekly dividend payment to shareholders.

WKLY joins  the SoFi Weekly Income ETF (TGIF), which launched in 2020 and was the first fixed income ETF to offer a weekly distribution to fund shareholders.

WKLY seeks to track the performance of the SoFi Sustainable Dividend Index, comprised of large- and mid-cap companies in both the U.S. and developed international markets that meet a robust set of sustainable dividend filters.

Securities selected for the index have maintained their dividend payments over the last 12 months, been forecasted to continue to pay over the next 12 months and met a number of additional screens designed to remove companies at risk of reducing their dividend payouts. The fund plans to distribute income from its investments to shareholders every Thursday.