Vestwell, BNY Mellon Partner on IRA Programs: Portfolio Products

Digital retirement platform Vestwell has partnered with BNY Mellon to now offer 401(k), 403(b), and employer-sponsored IRA plans to BNY Mellon clients, accessible via Vestwell's turnkey digital interface.

Through the collaboration, Vestwell will be tightly embedded in an open-architecture construct and offered to BNY Mellon clients nationwide. Jointly, the platform will allow companies to bring solutions to state-sponsored retirement programs as well as advisor-led 401(k), 403(b) and IRA programs.

According to Aaron Schumm, founder and CEO of Vestwell, "with BNY Mellon's industry leadership and Vestwell's digital solution, we're working to ensure that all employees have practical investment vehicles in place."

BNY Mellon's wholly-owned entities, which include BNY Mellon Custody, Pershing brokerage services, Lockwood asset management, and Sumday – will be able to utilize Vestwell's flexible and intuitive platform. This integrated offering will provide advisors a more comprehensive viewpoint into their plan sponsor companies and their employees' retirement accounts.

Nuveen Adds Actively-Managed Bond Funds

Nuveen added two actively-managed fixed income mutual funds to its responsible investing suite of funds.

The TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund (TGROX) and TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund (TSDBX) draw on the firm's decades of experience with both fixed income and responsible investing. The funds seek to deliver competitive financial returns and positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes.

The TIAA-CREF Green Bond Fund invests in diversified investment-grade portfolio that leverages Nuveen's expertise in labeled and unlabeled green fixed income securities designed to deliver competitive long-term risk-adjusted investment returns against its benchmark, the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Green Bond Index.

For this fund, investments primarily include securities issued by sovereign and local governments, corporations, securitized bonds and multinational agencies, with an emphasis on renewable energy, climate change and natural resources.

The TIAA-CREF Short Duration Impact Bond Fund seeks current income by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of fixed income securities with an average maturity of three and a half years.

The fund makes strategic allocations to bonds that demonstrate environmental and societal impact within affordable housing, community or economic development, and renewable energy, climate change and natural resources. The limited amount of time until maturity helps manage risks associated with rising interest rates and is designed to appeal to investors with a shorter time horizon or for retirees in a draw down phase. The fund's benchmark is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index.

Both funds focus on undervalued, investment-grade securities and seek to add value through sector allocation, security selection and duration, and yield curve positioning. This investment approach gives special consideration to certain ESG criteria, with an emphasis on identifying publicly traded fixed income securities with a direct and measurable societal or environmental impact.

Northern Trust Expands Newly Launched Alts Platform

Northern Trust added private market capabilities to supplement the recently launched ArcLine Alternatives platform for the firm's wealth management clients.

The private market investment offering better enables Northern Trust's qualified wealth management clients to take advantage of a carefully curated list of leading alternative funds to meet their asset allocation and portfolio diversification needs through an integrated cloud-based subscription and reporting platform.

The private market investment offering was developed with alternative investment technology firm Artivest.

According to Steven L. Fradkin, president of Northern Trust Wealth Management, this addition to the alts platform "offers exposure to some of the world's top private market fund managers though a frictionless investment process."

B+E Launches Online Trading Platform for Real Estate Exchanges

B+E launched what it says is the first 1031 online trading platform.

According to B+E CEO and co-founder Camille Renshaw, "the B+E 1031 Trade platform empowers exchangers to review the market for all net lease properties, both on-market and off-market. Our proprietary system then utilizes user defined criteria to match properties and name and purchase replacement properties."

The 1031 online trading platform joins the existing B+E triple net lease (NNN) trading platform, which offers an end-to-end solution for buyers and sellers to conduct entire triple net lease (NNN) transactions online. The B+E NNN trading platform consists of user-friendly dashboards, real-time predictive pricing and an AI-driven exchange – all leveraging the largest data set in the industry. Buyers and sellers can conduct entire NNN transactions online, reviewing real-time credit, news and tenant data while they trade, much like online stock trading platforms.

— Read the last portfolio product roundup here: Wells Fargo Announces New Retirement Income Planning Center: Portfolio Products