With mounting evidence that diverse leadership teams more effectively drive creativity, innovation, and strong business performance, Green Alpha Advisors has introduced its Next Economy Social Index portfolio.
Green Alpha's Investment Committee spent years testing potential variables before launching the portfolio at the end of 2015, and they have since been building track record with in-house assets invested in the strategy. It is now officially available as an option for clients to open separately managed accounts in the strategy.
To manage the Social Index, Green Alpha starts with their list of Next Economy Index constituents, then removes any that lack strong female representation in leadership and/or on the board.
They set starting weights based on market cap, with additional portfolio weight then given to companies that are doing more than the minimum needed for inclusion — for example, where women hold positions of significant authority, women have especially strong representation in leadership, and/or corporate policies are overtly socially inclusive.
According to Betsy Moszeter, Investment Committee member and COO at Green Alpha, "Gender diversity is clearly just one material aspect of any given team's composition, but an important one that clients are asking about."
"Clearly, investors are recognizing the value of diversity, too," she said in a statement. "Done correctly, a diversity-centric portfolio can offer investors the opportunity to earn higher return-on-equity, benefit society, and reward companies that recognize the top and bottom-line impacts of significant female representation in leadership and on their board of directors."
CAIS and Bluerock to Bring Interval Fund Access to Independent Wealth Channel
CAIS and Bluerock Capital Markets formed a strategic partnership that will introduce interval funds onto the CAIS platform, broadening the product selection for advisors.
The first Bluerock product available on the CAIS platform — the Bluerock Total Income+ Real Estate Fund (TIPWX) — is an interval fund sub-advised by Mercer and Deutsche Asset Management with a focus on private equity real estate investments.
Since inception, the fund has employed a multi-sector, multi-manager strategy that has provided investors with capital appreciation through net asset value growth, regular cash distributions, and access to a highly diversified portfolio of non-correlated real estate assets.
While the fund will be purchased through custodians via a ticker symbol instead of a subscription document, CAIS will use its communication and engagement platform to educate advisors regarding the benefits and opportunities that Bluerock's interval funds represent.
In addition to the existing fund, CAIS and Bluerock will work hand-in-hand with the advisor community to create new interval products specifically tailored to their evolving investment needs.
BNY Mellon's Pershing Expands its Trust Network to Serve Special Needs
BNY Mellon's Pershing added Capital First Trust Company to its Trust Network. Capital First focuses on special needs trusts — an area of growing interest for Pershing clients. This latest addition brings the total number of providers in the Pershing Trust Network to seven.
In addition to expertise in special needs trusts, Capital First also brings lower minimums geared toward the unique needs of Pershing's community.
In addition to Capital First's standard low fee schedules, the firm offers fee schedules for large revocable, irrevocable, and special asset accounts, bypassing the traditional fee schedule approach and providing separate discounted breakpoints for relationships at $5 million and $10+ million.
Launched in 2008, Pershing's Trust Network includes capabilities such as full trustee services and administrative trustee services. The platform enables Pershing's clients to perform investment management activities for their clients' trust accounts with all related assets held in custody at Pershing. Trust Network is available to Pershing's introducing broker-dealer clients through Pershing LLC and registered investment advisors via Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC.
Morningstar Investment Management Selects Northern Trust for Mutual Fund Services
