New products and changes introduced over the last week include an ETF from Recon Capital; an index from Solactive and an ETF based on it from Global X; and two additional investment options in variable annuity portfolios from Allianz Life.
Also, Altegris launched a fund for accredited investors and Genpact added a wealth management solution.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Recon Capital Adds ETF
Recon Capital has announced the launch of the Recon Capital FTSE 100 ETF (UK), which is benchmarked to the FTSE 100. It trades on the Nasdaq.
UK is designed to give U.S. investors direct access to the well-capitalized listed companies on the London Stock Exchange. Recon Capital partnered with FTSE and the London Stock Exchange to license its flagship index. The fund will have an initial expense ratio of 45 basis points.
2) Solactive Adds Index; Global X Launches ETF
Solactive announced the launch of the Solactive Guru Activist Index, which tracks the price movements of U.S.-listed equity holdings of a group of activist investors, and Global X added the Global X Guru Activist Index ETF (ACTX), which tracks the Solactive index.
The index bases its stock selection on 13F filings, publicly available documents that all hedge funds with more than $100 million in U.S. equity investments are required to provide to the SEC on a quarterly basis, and 13D filings, by which all investors acquiring 5% or more of a company's shares are required to report to the SEC within 10 days after the date of the transaction.
By investing alongside activist investors, ACTX seeks to benefit from their campaigns to unlock shareholder value and generate excess returns over U.S. equity benchmarks. Ordinarily, investing with an activist requires the payment of an ongoing 2% management fee as well as 20% of all profits. ACTX has an expense ratio of 0.75%, potentially allowing for greater cost efficiency.
