New products and changes introduced over the last week include two new funds and the rebranding of a third from Goldman Sachs; a risk assist fund from Horizon Investments; and two new ETFs from ProShares.
Also, the Phoenix Companies introduced two term life insurance policies and Nikko Asset Management added a specialist portfolio management team in Singapore.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Goldman Sachs Launches Two, Rebrands One Fund
Goldman Sachs announced that it has launched the Goldman Sachs Long Short Fund (GSEAX, GSLSX) and the Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (GER) and rebranded the Goldman Sachs Core Plus Fixed Income Fund to the Goldman Sachs Bond Fund (GSFAX, GSNIX).
GSEAX pursues investment ideas in global equity markets while seeking to hedge market risk and limit volatility. It invests primarily in the global equity markets, with a focus on securities listed on North American and European exchanges, through the use of long and/or short positions, and may also invest in global fixed income, commodity and currency instruments.
GER will invest primarily in master limited partnerships and other energy investments. It currently expects to concentrate investments in the energy sector across the energy value chain, with an emphasis on midstream MLP investments. It seeks a high level of total return with an emphasis on current distributions to shareholders.
GSFAX offers investors a globally diversified approach to fixed income, and allows investors to access opportunities outside a traditional core fixed income portfolio while seeking to manage risk.
2) ProShares Adds Two ETFs
ProShares has announced the launch of the ProShares MSCI EAFE Dividend Growers ETF (EFAD) and the ProShares Morningstar Alternatives Solution ETF (ALTS).
EFAD invests in the companies in the MSCI EAFE Index with the best track record of consistent year-over-year dividend growth. It tracks the MSCI EAFE Dividend Masters Index, which holds MSCI EAFE companies that have grown their dividends for at least 10 consecutive years.
The index is equally weighted and contains a minimum of 40 stocks. No single sector may represent more than 30% of the index and no single country may represent more than 50%.
ALTS is based on the Morningstar Diversified Alternatives Index, which is based on the asset allocation and construction expertise of Morningstar and its subsidiary Ibbotson Associates. The index allocates among a diversified set of ProShares alternative ETFs covering strategies including hedge fund replication, long/short equity, merger arbitrage, managed futures, breakeven inflation, infrastructure and listed private equity.
