New products introduced over the last week include a new annuity from Northwestern Mutual; a new managed futures fund from Hatteras; and a new low volatility equity fund from BMO.
In addition, Vanguard announced that it would switch indexes on 22 funds to lower costs and DDJ Capital was named as a subadvisor to the Northern Multi-Manager High Yield Opportunity Fund.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Vanguard to Switch Indexes on 22 Funds to Cut Costs
To cut costs for investors, Vanguard plans to transition 22 funds, many of which have an ETF share class, to new indexes starting in 2013, the fund giant said Tuesday.
The changes entail moving six international stock index funds and 16 U.S. stock and balanced index funds with about $537 billion in assets from MSCI benchmarks to those constructed by FTSE and the University of Chicago's Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP).
Read the full story on AdvisorOne.
2) Northwestern Mutual Introduces New Annuity
Northwestern Mutual has introduced the Select Portfolio Deferred Income Annuity, designed to help individuals create a guaranteed income to take them through retirement. It also offers the opportunity to grow income via nonguaranteed dividends. Individuals can also elect to take any dividends in cash or apply them to increase income, or they can do a combination of both.
Individuals can purchase the Select Portfolio Deferred Income Annuity where available with a lump sum payment of tax-qualified funds, such as funds held in a 401(k) plan or a traditional or Roth IRA.
3) Hatteras Launches Managed Futures Strategies Fund
Hatteras Funds announced Tuesday that it has launched a new mutual fund, the Hatteras Managed Futures Strategies Fund (I shares: HMFIX, A shares: HMFAX). The new fund invests in an existing $56 million strategy of the Hatteras Alpha Hedged Strategies Fund (ALPHX, APHAX, APHCX, ALPIX), a multistrategy, multimanager alternative mutual fund.
Dominion Capital Management, 2100 Xenon Group, Northfield Trading, and Revolution Capital Management serve as the fund's managers and rely more on short- to intermediate-term trends.
