Our weekly roundup of industry highlights
Carlyle, T&D Holdings buy majority stake in AIG-owned insurance firm
Carlyle and T&D Holdings, the parent of one of Japan's largest life insurers, agreed to buy the majority of AIG subsidiary Fortitude Group Holdings for about $1.8 billion, according to a statement. Carlyle, with a small group of investors, agreed to increase their ownership to 71.5%. T&D also bought 25%. AIG will continue to retain a 3.5% stake.
The initial deal Carlyle made with AIG in August 2018 came with an agreement that brought Carlyle $6 billion from Fortitude to put in its private equity, credit and real asset groups.
The firm hired Brian Schreiber, the top dealmaker at AIG, three years ago as co-head of the financial services team. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2020.
Vanguard opens new office building
Vanguard opened a new 225,000 sq.-ft. office on the firm's 87-acre Malvern West campus.
The new Neptune building will accommodate approximately 1,350 members of Vanguard's Retail Investor Group. It will also features an energy-efficient LED lighting system, enhanced energy commissioning, and sections of green roof access. Four electric vehicle charging stations will also be available to crew members working in the Neptune building, in addition to those already installed across Vanguard's Pennsylvania, Arizona and North Carolina campuses — which resulted in a greenhouse gas reduction of more than 303,500 pounds in 2018.
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By slashing fees, custodians are also eliminating special ETF platforms they had spent the past five years building out.
October 22 -
The move follows similar offers from other major brokerages in the last two weeks, as firms race to woo clients with the lowest-priced products possible.
October 21 -
In a little-noticed rule change, mutual funds no longer disclose their shrinking BD commission load-sharing payments.
October 16
PRODUCTS
Vanguard to introduce new international bond index fund
Vanguard announced the launch of their new, broad market international bond index fund, Vanguard Total International Bond II.
The fund will serve as the international fixed income component for the firm's Vanguard Target Retirement series and LifeStrategy Funds.
The new fund will mirror the investment strategy of Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund and will seek to track the same benchmark index, Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Float Adjusted RIC Capped Index.
SEC approves semitransparent ETFs from T. Rowe
The SEC granted preliminary exemptive relief to T. Rowe Price to offer semitransparent ETFs. While the preliminary approval clears an important hurdle toward T. Rowe Price offerings, additional regulatory steps must take place before the firm can launch any new ETFs.
T. Rowe Price is still determining which investment strategies may be available as semi-transparent ETFs, though it will begin by offering certain U.S. equity strategies, according to the firm. The semi-transparent structure, an alternative to the daily portfolio disclosure structure used by conventional transparent ETFs, would allow the firm to deliver its active strategies in an ETF wrapper without disclosing information that could be harmful to the interests of fund shareholders.
CAIXA adopts Bloomberg asset management solutions
CAIXA Asset Management, one of the largest asset managers in Brazil and Latin America, with more than $89 billion in assets under management, has adopted Bloomberg's Asset and Investment Manager, according to the firm.
CAIXA AM will use the full suite of Bloomberg AIM solutions, including portfolio analytics and risk management, trade execution and compliance tools. In addition, the consistency of data, execution and flow of operations available through Bloomberg AIM, will support the future growth of Caixa's business.
The asset manager also expanded subscriptions to the Bloomberg Terminal, the technology platform used by the world's leading business and financial professionals for data, news and trading in any asset class.
Direxion launches new leveraged ETFs
Direxion launched the Direxion Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull and Bear 3X Shares and the Direxion Daily Dow Jones Internet Bull and Bear 3X Shares funds, the firm says.
The funds seek to achieve triple the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P 500 High Beta Index and Dow Jones Internet Composite Index. Like all leveraged ETFs, this Direxion product is intended only for investors with an in-depth understanding of the risks associated with seeking leveraged investment results, and who plan to actively monitor and manage their positions.
MGEX launches futures on Spikes Volatility Index
Miami International Securities Exchange and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, a designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization, reported the launch of futures on the SPIKES Volatility Index.
Available on MGEX via the CME Globex platform, the firm says Spikes Futures acts as a cost-effective choice to the current volatile trading market. "The futures volatility trading market has been unnecessarily closed off to competition, and the marketplace has suffered as a result of a lack of choice and innovation. We believe that Spikes Futures is the solution," says MIAX CEO Thomas Gallagher.
Timothy Partners expands ETF lineup
Timothy Partners, advisor to the Timothy Plan family of funds, launched two new ETFs aimed at Christian-themed investors, according to the firm.
The funds, the Timothy Plan U.S. Small Cap Core ETF (TPSC) and Timothy Plan International ETF (TPIF) carry expense ratios of 0.52% and 0.62%, respectively.
“There’s less performance chasing than you saw in the past, and that’s a positive thing,” an expert says.
"To continue our mission of providing Christians with relevant investment products that do not compromise their values, we are excited to again partner with Victory Capital to launch these two additional Timothy Plan ETFs," says Timothy Plan founder Art Ally.
ARRIVALS
Portfolio manager joins Eaton Vance management
Eaton Vance Management announced that G.R. Nelson, member of the firm's equity team since 2004, will join Michael A. Allison as a portfolio manager.
Nelson and Allison will now co-manage the Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund (EOI), the Eaton Vance Risk-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund (ETJ) and the Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund (ETY).
Nelson is a vice president at the firm and is currently an equity analyst.
Vanguard makes investment management appointments
Vanguard has made various appointments across its investment management division as part an ongoing effort to build and expand the capabilities of its global team of more than 500 portfolio managers, analysts and traders, according to the firm.
The appointments include portfolio manager changes, external hires and internal personnel rotations across Vanguard's fixed income and quantitative equity groups. Together with Vanguard's equity index group, the three teams oversee more than $5.2 trillion, or 89% of Vanguard's total assets under management. The remaining 11% of assets are managed by 25 leading advisory firms.
"We're committed to finding the best talent to fit within our collaborative, team-based approach to portfolio management," says Vanguard CIO Greg Davis.
Urban Catalyst appoints director of capital markets
Urban Catalyst, a multi-asset opportunity zone fund based in San Jose, California, announced the ex-vice president of Bridge Bank, Kelly McRitchie, has joined as director of capital markets.
In her new role, McRitchie will manage company debt and equity relationships for projects including the coordination of building, construction and permanent loans, according to the firm.
"We are excited to bring Kelly on board as part of the team," says Urban Catalyst Founder Erik Hayden. "Her extensive knowledge and experience in capital markets will be a strong asset to our company and help drive our strategy moving forward."
SS&C names president of ALPS advisors
Former senior vice president at Oppenheimer Funds, Laton Spahr, was named president of SS&C ALPS Advisors, an asset manager and wholly owned subsidiary of SS&C.
As president, Laton will drive the firm's short- and long-term growth initiatives, oversee its investment strategies and portfolio management. Laton will report to Mike Sleightholme, senior vice president and general manager of DST.
"Laton's strong track record as an investor, combined with his strong management expertise and deep industry expertise, made him a natural pick to lead SS&C ALPS Advisors' next phase of growth," Sleightholme says.
