Ellevest Enters the Impact Investing Space: Portfolio Products

Ellevest is entering the impact investing market with its new Ellevest Impact Portfolios.

Available to all clients, the Impact Portfolios embody a gender-lens investment theme to drive positive social and economic change by advancing women globally. A suite of additional gender-lens impact investing options will be available for Ellevest Private Wealth Management clients.

While many gender-lens investment offerings focus on driving capital to companies that advance women, Ellevest’s approach also includes investments that drive capital more directly into the hands of women and the organizations that support their economic advancement.

Examples include investments that provide small business loans to women owners, trade finance loans that help companies with social mandates in emerging economies and sustainable housing for workforce tenants and their families.

With Ellevest clients citing the ability to make a positive impact through their investments as one of the top items on their client “wish list,” company co-founder and CEO Sallie Krawcheck said she believes investor behavior is already changing and that women are leading the way.

“Ellevest’s focus is to close the gender-based money gaps that can cost women a fortune over the course of their lives,” Krawcheck said in a statement. “Across the board, as we see women taking their rightful seats at the investing table, they want to do more—and are ready to do more—with their money. They’re recognizing the power that our collective investments can have, and they want their impact to be a positive one.”

Voya Financial Enhances Capabilities to Support the Special Needs Community

Voya Financial enhanced its digital retirement planning capabilities with features to support people with special needs and their caregivers.

All retirement plan participants will have access to the new functionality through Voya’s myOrangeMoney website. It provides information that can help special needs plan participants address the unique planning circumstances they may face when preparing for the future.

Based on a few questions that are presented to them, individuals are prompted to consider their eligibility for certain government benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

In addition to these specific government programs, participants can also learn more about a number of other important topics for their planning needs such as, broader special needs planning guidance; specialized legal and financial resources; additional government benefits including Medicare and Medicaid; as well as background on special needs trusts and the important role they can play within one’s financial strategy.

Tortoise Launches Tax-Advantaged Social Infrastructure Fund

Tortoise launched a closed-end interval fund that offers investors access to the firm’s direct lending strategy that was previously available only to qualified purchasers through a private fund.

The Tortoise Tax-Advantaged Social Infrastructure Fund (TSIFX) will provide capital for social infrastructure projects related to 501(c)(3) organizations, nonprofits and other entities authorized to issue private activity and tax-exempt bonds focused on education, healthcare, housing, industrial infrastructure, human service providers and social services, where there is currently a capital dislocation.

The fund seeks to generate attractive total return with an emphasis on tax-advantaged income. Liquidity will be provided to shareholders through the fund’s quarterly repurchase offerings.

Vident Financial Launches U.S. Diversified Real Estate ETF

Vident Financial launched a multi-factor alternative to traditional market cap-weighted real estate funds.

The U.S. Diversified Real Estate ETF (PPTY) seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the U.S. Diversified Real Estate Index (PPTYX).

The portfolio construction process uses data on the individual properties held by each company in the investment universe to build a portfolio diversified by location and property type. Leverage and governance factors are further included to reduce exposure to higher risk companies.

PPTY has a management fee of 0.53%.