Investment Product and Service Launches for the Week

BPV Reveals Large Cap Value Collective Investment Trust

BPV Capital Management announced a partnership with AJO and SEI Trust Company to launch the BPV Large Cap Value Collective Investment Trust (CIT).

AJO is a Philadelphia-based institutional asset manager, and SEI Trust Company is a subsidiary of SEI, a Pennsylvania-based financial solutions group.

“We’ve loved working with AJO through our partnership on the BPV Large Cap Value Fund, and we are excited to continue building this partnership while expanding access to AJO’s decades of expertise and benchmark outperformance,” says Mike West, senior partner and CEO of BPV.

He says working with SEI Trust Company “is an added bonus,” citing the company’s “vast network of operations and distribution infrastructure” as a powerful new asset for BPV enterprise going forward.

Designed to deliver a “more affordable 60 basis point fee structure and zero investment minimum,” the BPV Large Cap Value CIT is specifically designed for tax-qualified retirement plans, the firm says. However, the underlying strategies have been developed and in play for over 20 years, BPV explains, leveraging the extensive experience of a five-person investment team led by AJO Founder and Managing Principal Ted Aronson.

The CIT is benchmarked against the Russell 1000 Value Index, and the strategy employs a bottom-up, value-oriented investment approach and “a sophisticated quantitative model with stock selection based on company value, management strength, momentum and sentiment.”

The BPV Large Cap Value Collective Investment Trust can be purchased through BPV’s institutional sales team, and will eventually be offered on a number of distribution platforms as well.

Next: Name Change at Prudential Financial 

Prudential Unveils PGIM Brand

Prudential Investment Management, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc., announced plans to change its name to PGIM.

Prudential says the name change is meant to “reflect its position as one of the world’s largest asset managers and its deep expertise across a broad set of asset classes.”

The new name will be effective January 4, 2016, matching Prudential’s objective of expanding the range of investment solutions and products “to address growing demand, especially among global clients, for strategies that help them balance long-term risk and return objectives across diversified portfolios.”

Prudential is the provider of the DayOne Target-Date Fund series. The firm tells PLANADVISER much of the focus in recent years has been on building talent and capabilities to better serve clients. At the Prudential Investment Management level, the firm created a Multi Asset Class Solutions group (called MACS) which is a consultative service for institutional clients “to work through issues they may face.”

“Our clients expect investment managers to simultaneously find the best investment opportunities around the world, while upholding the most rigorous standards of risk management,” adds David Hunt, CEO of Prudential Investment Management. “The PGIM name represents our scale, and our conviction to deliver time-tested, long-term solutions and outcomes for institutional and retail investors.”

Several Prudential Investment Management businesses will adopt the new name:

• Prudential Fixed Income will use PGIM in markets outside of the United States where it currently uses the Pramerica name, beginning in January.
• Prudential Mortgage Capital Company will be renamed PGIM Real Estate Finance globally in mid-2016.
• Prudential Real Estate Investors will be renamed PGIM Real Estate globally in mid-2016.

The new identity also extends to Prudential Investment Management’s new headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.