Investment Product and Service Launches

Fiserv, Inc. has built an up-to-date interface and workflow via their United Wealth Platform, meant to optimize portfolio management and trading of unified managed accounts (UMAs).

Unified Wealth Platform from Fiserv positions financial institutions and advisers to take advantage of the recent growth in UMAs.

“Unified managed accounts continue to grow in popularity because of their ability to provide a better experience for the investor and the adviser,” says Cheryl Nash, president, Investment Services, Fiserv. “As financial institutions utilize UMAs to support their managed account programs, Fiserv offers the security and scalability advisers need to manage all accounts on a single platform and service investors throughout their lives.” 

Unified Wealth Platform allows for automation across the entire wealth management process, including financial planning and advice, retirement income analysis, portfolio management, trading, accounting, portfolio performance, and reporting.

The new enhancements from Fiserv allow advisers to access UMA portfolio management and trading capabilities, with more flexibility in overlay programs, according to Fiserv. The new services are said to support decision-making, order generation, and cash management, as well as the management and routing of proposed orders. Trading, switching between overlay managers, and investing money are more efficient, decreasing time to market. Same-day transactions and account opening is hoped to improve adviser efficiency and lower total cost of ownership for accounts, while making the process easier for the investor. The hybrid UMA structure holds active and passive investments alongside multiple overlay managers within a single multi-sleeve account.

Vanguard Offers Commission-Free ETFs

Vanguard launched an array of commission-free exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available to investors. As announced in early July, Vanguard is offering commission-free online transactions on approximately 90% of all ETFs, excluding inverse and leveraged ETFs due to their highly speculative nature. 

The launch will allow Vanguard Brokerage clients to access the vast majority of ETFs, from providers including BlackRock, Schwab, and SSGA, without incurring additional costs to purchase or sell.

“Vanguard’s expanded commission-free platform offers value, access, and convenience to the increasing number of investors turning to ETFs as their preferred investment vehicle,” says Karin Risi, managing director of Vanguard’s Retail Investor Group. “Ownership of Vanguard ETFs has quadrupled in the last five years and ETFs are being held by a broad range of investors—from Millennials to retirees.”