New products and changes introduced over the last week include an equity unit trust from Incapital and Nuveen Asset Management and a closed-end fund from Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
In addition, Neuberger Berman announced the selection of one of its funds by Hartford HealthCare as defined contribution plan investment option, and AARP rolls out an online health-care costs calculator.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Incapital and Nuveen Asset Management Introduce New Equity Unit Trust
Incapital LLC and Nuveen Asset Management announced that they have joined efforts to create and distribute a new unit trust portfolio expected to launch in early 2014.
The new offering, developed in collaboration with Bob Doll, chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager at Nuveen, will provide investors access to strategies with a fixed basket of securities and a defined maturity.
"We expect the first series of unit trusts to be one of many innovative solutions to be offered by Incapital in partnership with Nuveen," said Incapital CEO John Radtke, in a press release. "Over time, we will look to create and deliver a broad range of investment opportunities in multiple distribution channels. We are pleased to initiate our partnership with a unit trust designed for a market segment experiencing increased investor demand."
"We are very excited to partner with Incapital to offer this new unit trust and highlight Bob Doll's deep and respected expertise in equity investing," said William T. Huffman, president of Nuveen Asset Management, in a statement. "Working together, we look forward to developing a series of unit trust offerings that draw from our multi-asset-class investment platform and that we believe will help secure the long-term goals of investors."
2) Goldman Sachs Asset Management Launches Closed-End Fund
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has announced the launch of the Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities (GMZ), its first closed-end fund.
GMZ aims to invest primarily in master limited partnerships (MLPs)—a tax-advantaged structure created for use by energy firms to support growing hydrocarbon extraction and increasing energy demand. Focused specifically on midstream infrastructure, these companies include pipeline operators, processors, and fractionation and storage facilities.
Managed by the firm's energy and infrastructure team, GMZ seeks a high level of total return with an emphasis on current distributions to shareholders. It raised $826.3 million in its common share offering, excluding any exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares.
