Goldman Sachs Plans Six Bond ETFs: Portfolio Products

The fund, which originally launched as a hedge fund in 2009 and was converted into a mutual fund by the company, "retains the same strategy and management team and has an average annualized return of over 16% since inception," it said.

The fund's investment objective is "total return" including capital appreciation and income, it noted.

RFXIX is the company's third hedge fund conversion. It is being sub-advised by ESM Management. Eric Meyer, founder of ESM Management and RFXIX's hedge fund predecessor, remains portfolio manager, along with co-portfolio manager William Van de Water. Northern Lights Distributors is the official distributor for the fund, while Rational Advisors serves as its investment advisor managing the investment strategy of the funds.

"We've enhanced returns by finding situations where the market is underpricing a particular bond, because of … misinterpretation or ambiguity, and then accumulating a position in the bond and using some measure of activism, with or against the trustee, trust administrator, servicer, or bond insurer, to unlock value," Meyer told ThinkAdvisor.

"As we continue to identify opportunities to bring unique strategies from the hedge fund world to the mutual fund space, this particular investment strategy caught our attention because of its highly specialized approach to fixed income and its unusually strong performance record for 10 years running," Jerry Szilagyi, CEO of Rational Funds, said in a statement.

SoFi Adds 529 Plans 

Social Finance added 529 college savings plan contributions to its SoFi at Work employee-benefits program after acquiring LEAF College Savings, the San Francisco-based fintech startup said.

"We are not disclosing the financial details of the deal," which was "finalized before the announcement," a company spokeswoman said Friday.

LEAF's advanced payroll and human resource information system (HRIS) integration technology makes recurring employee contributions to 529 college savings plans simple, SoFi said in its announcement.

The college savings contributions can be made via automated payroll deductions and employer contribution capabilities, as well as through a coming selection tool that it said will provide employees with 529 college savings plans that best fit their individual financial situations.

With the tool, employees can input basic information about their expected college costs and household financial status and then receive personalized recommendations for two college savings plans, it said.

Employees will also be able to link their existing 529 plans with SoFi's portal and make contributions from their paychecks via payroll integration with their employer's payroll provider, it said. Employers can opt to make monthly contributions toward their employees' 529 plans as well as their student loans, it noted.

Pointing to data showing the average cost of college is running $26,290 for public, out-of-state universities and $35,830 for private universities, the company said participation in 529 college savings plans has become "more important than ever." In 2018, 44% of parents reported saving for their kids' college educations in 529 plans, so the number of parents saving is growing, it said.

Check out last week's portfolio product roundup: Wells Fargo to Drop Crow Point Partners From 3 Funds: Portfolio Products