Legg Mason is fielding its first commercial real estate-focused fund for individual investors. The Clarion Partners Real Estate Income Fund (CPREIF) has a management fee of 1.25% and is being managed by Legg Mason affiliate Clarion Partners.
The new fund enables individuals and small institutions to access private real estate transactions that are usually only available to larger investors at "significantly higher minimums," according to Brad Fryer, managing director of alternative sales for Legg Mason.
Most of CPREIF's underlying investments are expected to be in private commercial real estate, both equity and debt positions, the firm said. The rest will be invested in publicly traded real estate-related securities, cash and cash equivalents, it said. The fund "will seek to invest in assets across the major property sectors," it said.
CPREIF closed on its first investment, an $18 million structured debt investment to Buckingham Companies for the recapitalization of Aertson Midtown, a newly constructed, best-in-class property in the heart of Nashville's Midtown/West End neighborhood in Tennessee, Legg Mason said.
Fidelity Expands Its Index Fund Offerings
The Fidelity International Bond Index Fund (FBIIX) is the latest addition to Fidelity's index fund lineup.
The new fund has a net expense ratio of 0.06% and is available with no investment minimum to individual investors, as well as via third-party financial advisors and workplace retirement plans, the company said.
EventShares Changes ETF Name, Reduces Expense Ratio
EventShares changed the name of its actively managed exchange-traded fund from the EventShares U.S. Policy Alpha ETF to the EventShares U.S. Legislative Opportunities ETF and reduced its net expense ratio from 0.86% to 0.75%, it said.
The ETF's ticker, however, remains PLCY and the fund's underlying focus hasn't changed either, it said.
Since launching its ETF business in 2017, the Newport Beach, California-based firm has "sought to draw a very clear line between politics and policy," according to Ben Phillips, its chief investment officer. "With this new name, we believe we've made our fund's mandate even more clear," he said in a statement.
Broadridge Buys Appatura to Enhance Communications Solutions
Broadridge Financial Solutions bought Ridgefield Park, N.J.-based enterprise content management specialist Appatura and its Software-as-a-Service-based platform.
The acquisition stands to help Broadridge enhance its existing communications solutions for asset managers and other financial services clients, it said.
The purchase price and other terms weren't disclosed. Appatura had been bought from Havas Creative, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal and other selling shareholders.
Howard Capital Introduces New Defender Series ETFs
Howard Capital Management launched HCM Defender Series ETFs, including the HCM Defender 100 Index ETF (QQH) and HCM Defender 500 Index ETF (LGH), each with a 1.36% net expense ratio.
The new ETFs track the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500, respectively, and were "designed to offer upside potential with downside risk management," the Atlanta company said.
The new investment vehicles are "guided by" the company's proprietary HCM-BuyLine model, the company said, noting that, when a key index, such as the S&P 500, dips below the company's mathematical model projections, the HCM-BuyLine signals to reduce the ETF's exposure to equities by investing in one- to three-month U.S. Treasury bills.
J.P. Morgan Enhances Target Date Compass Tool
J.P. Morgan Asset Management made enhancements to its Target Date Compass target date fund analysis tool that include new search capabilities allowing advisors to more quickly find the funds that align to plan sponsor goals, the company said.
