New products and changes introduced over the last week include a global risk model from Morningstar and the merger of Turner Investments with an affiliate of Veracen.
Also, the Defined Contribution Real Estate Council (DCREC) created a checklist for DC plan sponsors considering adding real estate options to their plans, and Waddell & Reed partnered with eMoney Advisor on the latter's wealth planning solution.
Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:
1) Morningstar Adds Global Risk Model
Morningstar introduced its first global risk model which includes 36 factors across style, sector, region and currency characteristics to help investors understand the potential risk and return of a stock or an entire portfolio.
The model evaluates more than 40,000 stocks and 10,000 equity fund portfolios in Morningstar's database and builds a forecast of future returns for various time horizons based on all 36 factor exposures. Factors include sustainable competitive advantage and ownership data as well as 'fat tails,' or extreme events to forecast the future return distribution of individual stocks and equity portfolios.
"Investors can use the risk model to research securities and construct portfolios to make more informed investment decisions about risk and suitability, at a more granular level." said Warren Miller, head of asset management software for Morningstar, in a press release.
The company eventually plans to expand the risk model to asset classes in addition to equities and equity funds.
2) Turner Investments to Merge with Veracen Affiliate
