Fidelity Launches Women's Leadership Fund: Portfolio Products

Fidelity Investments launched a new actively managed mutual fund that seeks to identify high-performing companies that prioritize and advance women's leadership and development.

The Fidelity Women's Leadership Fund (FWOMX), which has a net expense ratio of 1%, is available with both retail and advisor share classes, with no investment minimums, and is managed by Nicole Connolly, a 21-year industry veteran.

"I'm looking for companies that I believe are committed to female leadership and development, that can grow earnings more than the market and that have resilient businesses models with a solid competitive position," Connolly said in a statement. "The focus with the Fidelity Women's Leadership Fund is to offer an investment product that seeks returns with a purpose."

To be considered, a company must have a woman as a member of the senior management team, or; one-third women on its board of directors, or; specific gender diversity initiatives for hiring, retention and promotion of women.

Fidelity's research found that companies with women in leadership positions and initiatives promoting gender diversity generally outperformed the market over the long term.

"Our active research and experience suggests this is an investment universe ripe for good stock picking," Connolly said. "The research also found that companies with a commitment to gender diversity can have lower earnings volatility and higher return on equity."

Sofi Adds To Its ETF Lineup With Gig Economy and SoFi 50 ETFs

SoFi announced the availability of its two newest exchange-traded funds: the SoFi Gig Economy ETF (GIGE) and the SoFi 50 ETF (SFYF).

The SoFi Gig Economy ETF is an actively managed fund that is designed to seek long-term capital appreciation by capturing exposure to the economic shift toward gig-oriented companies. The "gig economy" refers to a group of companies that embrace and support the workforce in which employment is based around short-term engagements that allow for flexibility and personal freedom and temporary contracts.

The fund is structured so that most companies that IPO can be included in the portfolio within 31 days of their IPO, as opposed to traditional passive funds that must likely wait 60 to 90 days to include a new IPO.

The SoFi 50 ETF tracks the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive SoFi US 50 Growth Index, by capturing the performance of 50 of the 1,000 largest publicly-traded U.S. companies that have the highest growth score based on three key signals: top-line revenue growth, net income growth, and forward-looking consensus estimates of net income growth. The index is equally weighted.

GIGE will be listed on Nasdaq with an expense ratio of 59 basis points. SFYF will be listed on the NYSE Arca and has an expense ratio of 29 basis points.

Quadratic Capital Launches Quadratic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF

Quadratic Capital Management launched its first exchange-traded fund, the Quadradic Interest Rate Volatility and Inflation Hedge ETF (IVOL).

IVOL is a fixed income ETF designed to profit from an increase in fixed income volatility and a steepening of the yield curve, whether that occurs via rising long-term interest rates or falling short-term interest rates, which are historically associated with large equity market declines.

The actively managed ETF seeks to provide steady, inflation-protected income, and is designed to provide an asymmetric payoff when inflation expectations increase and long-term interest rates become higher than short-term interest rates.

Amplify ETFs Launches Peer-to-Peer Lending & Crowdfunding ETF

Amplify ETFs announces the launch of a new index-based ETF that seeks exposure to the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and equity crowdfunding ecosystem.

The Amplify CrowdBureau Peer-to-Peer Lending & Crowdfunding ETF (LEND) seeks investment results that generally correspond to the CrowdBureau Peer-to-Peer Lending & Equity Crowdfunding Index.

To be eligible for inclusion in the index, companies must operate within one of the four business segments: peer-to-peer lending and equity crowdfunding platforms, providers of technology and software solutions to the P2P lending and equity crowdfunding industry, social networking platforms,and financial institutions with dedicated P2P lending & equity crowdfunding platforms. The new ETF has an expense ratio of 0.65%.

J.P. Morgan Launches New Digital Bond Ladder Tool

J.P. Morgan Asset Management launched a new tool for financial advisors to create hypothetical municipal bond ladders based on customizable inputs such as tax rates, credit quality, maturity ranges and interest rate views.

The Bond Ladder Illustrator is powered by an engine built in partnership with Asset and Wealth Management's Intelligent Digital Solutions group. The tool provides advisors with the unique opportunity to create hypothetical bond ladders based on actual municipal bonds that have gone through J.P. Morgan's extensive credit review process, rather than generic benchmark interest rate curves.

Some of the tool's key features include a tax rate calculator, customizable portfolio assumptions based on client preferences, and a personalized, end-client ready report that includes key portfolio characteristics, estimated investment returns, income, cash flow and total return metrics.

FTJ FundChoice Now Offers the Full Suite of American Funds Model Portfolios

FTJ FundChoice announced that an additional seven American Funds model portfolios are now available on the FTJ FundChoice open architecture Turnkey Asset Management Program.

With the addition of these seven models, advisors can now access the entire suite of American Funds' models via FTJ FundChoice.

The additional models now available in the Market Movement Strategies strategic sleeve on FTJ FundChoice are: