New products and changes introduced over the last week include a global long/short equity fund from Hartford Funds; a mortgage-backed securities index fund from FlexShares; and a master limited partnership fund from Invesco.
Also, Fidelity & Guaranty life added an annuity product; Pentegra introduced a brochure recommending retirement plan design strategies; and iTB launched an upgraded trading interface.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Hartford Funds Launches Global Long/Short Equity Fund
Hartford Funds has announced the launch of its Long/Short Global Equity Fund (HLOAX), a liquid alternative fund offering a long/short equity hedging strategy.
Subadvised by Wellington Management, the fund invests primarily in global small capitalization equity and equity-related securities to seek long-term capital appreciation while employing hedging and diversification strategies designed to provide lower volatility than the global equity markets.
2) Invesco Launches MLP Fund
Invesco has announced the launch of the Invesco MLP Fund, an open-end, actively managed alternative fund that utilizes a top-down and bottom-up investment process in an effort to identify better quality master limited partnerships (MLPs) trading at attractive relative values.
The fund seeks to provide capital appreciation and, secondarily, income.
"We've seen a meaningful uptick in U.S. crude oil and natural gas production as a result of well-known technological advances in the extraction of these hydrocarbons," said Joe Rodriguez, lead portfolio manager, in a press release.
"Given this new energy boom, significant infrastructure investments are needed to support the movement and refinement of oil and gas from its extraction piont to the end user," Rodriguez explained. "As a result, the number of available MLP investments has grown significantly, doubling in just seven years."
3) FlexShares Launches Disciplined Duration MBS Index ETF
FlexShares has announced the launch of the Disciplined Duration MBS Index Fund (MBSD), a fixed income portfolio consisting of investment-grade U.S. agency mortgage-backed pass-through securities (MBS) issued by U.S. government agencies: the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac) or the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae). MBSD targets an average effective duration of 3.75 years, with an admissible range between 3.25 and 4.25 years.
