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January 26, 2023 at 11:21 AM
What You Need to Know
- Vestmark collaborates with S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch six direct-index SMA strategies.
- The Financial Services Institute and Broadridge Financial Solutions introduce a free-to-use Form CRS Video Guide for FSI members.
- Global wealth management platform developer FNZ is acquiring YieldX, a provider of fixed income portfolio management technology.
Vestmark is launching six direct-index, separately managed account strategies, called Focused Index Portfolios, available via its Vestmark Manager Marketplace.
The wealth management software and services provider is collaborating with S&P Dow Jones Indices and licensing select equity benchmarks from the global index.
Of the six new SMA strategies, three are based on new, custom indices from S&P Dow Jones Indices that select constituents from the large-cap S&P 500 Index and S&P 500 Catholic Values Index.
The indexes are each constructed to measure the performance of a subset of securities from an underlying index, Vestmark said Wednesday.
Current SMA strategies based on the new indices are available now through Vestmark and include: the S&P 500 Focused 100 VAST Portfolio, S&P 500 Focused 50 VAST Portfolio and S&P 500 Catholic Values Focused 100 VAST Portfolio.
Vestmark is also launching three SMA strategies based on longstanding indices from S&P Dow Jones Indices that provide insight on specific segments of the market, including dividend-payers, ESG and international developed markets: the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 VAST Portfolio, S&P 500 ESG Elite VAST Portfolio and S&P Developed Markets 100 ADR xUS VAST Portfolio.
The six Focused Index Portfolios available via Vestmark are being offered with investment minimums as low as $100,000, allowing investors broader exposure to areas of interest that were previously less accessible, even for high-net-worth investors, Vestmark said.
The strategies enable advisors to choose certain stock tilts, it said. For example, they can provide an income tilt in Vestmark’s strategy based on the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, which comprises large-cap stocks.
Vestmark noted that its software-as-a-service platform supports more than $1.5 trillion in assets and over 5 million accounts.
FSI, Broadridge Introduce Form CRS Guide
The Financial Services Institute, in conjunction with fintech firm Broadridge Financial Solutions, unveiled a new, free-to-use Form CRS Video Guide for FSI members.
The guide, available now, can be white labeled and is made up of three easily understandable, 90-second videos whose purpose is to help investors and clients better understand what the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest’s Form CRS contains and to “facilitate more meaningful conversations between them and their financial advisors,” FSI said Tuesday.
The announcement accompanied the kickoff of FSI OneVoice, FSI’s annual, in-person gathering for independent firm executives, in Palm Desert, California.
FNZ’s Buying YieldX
Global wealth management platform developer FNZ is acquiring YieldX, a provider of fixed income portfolio management technology.
The purchase stands to “accelerate the personalization of wealth management solutions across the U.S. market,” the companies said in a joint announcement late last week.
“Financial institutions, advisors and their clients will benefit from the combination of FNZ’s full service, end-to-end platform, and YieldX’s market-leading fixed income portfolio management technology,” the firms said.
Following the close of the transaction, Adam Green, YieldX CEO, will join FNZ as CEO of asset management for North America, while Steve Gross, YieldX president and chief innovation officer, will join FNZ as head of asset management strategy for North America.
In 2019, Green and Gross founded YieldX, which is based in Miami with an office in New York.
The acquisition will further FNZ’s presence and capabilities in the U.S., “accelerating its mission to open up wealth,” the companies said.
Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
FNZ said it administers more than $1.5 trillion in client assets representing more than 20 million investors globally and partners with over 650 large financial institutions and 8,000 wealth management firms in 21 countries, including Barclays, Envestnet and Vanguard.
Commenting on the deal, Nikhil Sharma, managing principal and U.S. head of digital wealth at Capco, a global management and technology consultancy focused on financial services, told ThinkAdvisor: “FNZ has had an expansive footprint within wealth management with front-to-back offerings on a single platform.”
FNZ’s recent acquisitions — including Appway and now YieldX — powered by a massive funding round in February 2022, have been “in line with the consolidation M&A trends aimed towards offering depth of service in certain segments,” Sharma said.
“An API-led approach like that of YieldX makes it valuable in both branded and white-labeled integration into existing wealth platforms,” he added.
Juniper Square Nabs Ex-Envestnet Executive
Juniper Square has named Andina Anderson its chief customer officer, responsible for overseeing the company’s client onboarding, success, service and support functions.
