Investment Product and Service Launches

New Nasdaq-100 index fund institutional share class launches, while Alerian S-Network expands partnership with IdealRatings and Sanctuary Wealth.

Art by Jackson Epstein

Art by Jackson Epstein





New Nasdaq-100 Index Fund Institutional Share Class Launches

Shelton Capital Management has launched the NQQQX, a new, low-cost Nasdaq-100 Index fund share class designed to address the needs of retirement plan participants and consultants by reducing the overall expenses of investing in a Nasdaq-100 fund through their 401(k) plans.

The Nasdaq-100 Index gives investors access to a wide variety of sectors and focuses on the largest 100 non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange.

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“Iconic brands like Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet appeal to investors who believe these, and other component companies, represent the future economy,” says Dennis Clark, managing director, Shelton Capital Management. “As the landscape of retirement savings plans evolves, our Nasdaq-100 Index Fund has become a popular offering with 401(k) platforms and is very appealing to younger investors.”

The NQQQX has an expense ratio of 0.25% and is offered with a $10 million minimum at various platforms serving retirement plans and institutional investors.

 

Alerian S-Network Expands Partnership with IdealRatings and Sanctuary Wealth

Alerian S-Network Global Indexes, an index provider focused on building index-based investment strategies, has announced an expansion of its environmental, social and governance offering and partnership with gold source data provider IdealRatings.

The partnership bolsters the firms’ commitment to providing investors broader access to a range of easily comprehensible solutions that incorporate ESG criteria. IdealRatings’ ESG scoring and ratings dataset conforms to international guidelines, identifying companies with positive and negative impacts based on their involvement in certain activities and/or countries. The indexes are rebalanced and reconstituted quarterly.

Using IdealRatings’ ESG key performance indicators for index and portfolio development, Alerian S-Network’s new global family of ESG indexes include the Alerian Ideal Ratings ESG & SRI 100 Index, the Alerian Ideal Ratings ESG 100 Index, and the Alerian Ideal Ratings SRI 100 Index.

Each strategy is accessible through a separately managed account on the Sanctuary Wealth Platform.

“ESG and responsible investing are prevalent across all conversations in the financial services space today,” says Michael Poisson, managing director of IdealRatings. “In collaboration with Alerian S-Network, our solutions advance investors’ ability to implement a portfolio strategy aligned with their values. As mainstream strategies, ESG and SRI are now accessible by every market participant.”

Advisers Can Integrate Clients’ Self-Directed Retirement Accounts

A partnership between a financial technology company and registered investment adviser can integrate clients’ retirement assets into their practice.

SageView Advisory Group and financial technology company Pontera have partnered on a platform to enable advisers to manage and trade clients’ retirement accounts.

Self-directed investment in retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s, are often “held away” assets that are not visible to advisers. The new platform aims for advisers to integrate them into their practice and monitor these off-platform retirement accounts.

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Dave Goldman, Pontera’s chief business officer, says that the partnership allows Pontera to take advantage of SageView’s leading financial advice capability “both as a retirement plan adviser helping plan sponsors and a wealth manager with individual clients.”   

Additionally, Pontera has enabled advisers to provide a wide-ranging suite of services, including asset allocation, compliance and security management.

“Our partnership bridges those two businesses by allowing their advisers to provide critical, value-driven services to plan sponsors and their participants directly,” Goldman says. “With Pontera, SageView advisers will be able to offer tailored discretionary financial management to individuals within their 401(k) accounts that incorporates the entirety of their assets and individual circumstances in a way that was not possible before.”

The platform passed rigorous cybersecurity quality controls that assess the risks associated with outsourced software solutions that store customer data online, according to the companies.

Allowing advisers to incorporate greater personalization for participants’ asset allocation is key to maximizing their retirement readiness, says Jim Dario, head of wealth management at SageView Advisory Group.  

“Advisers must be able to present a comprehensive plan that delivers the best possible solution for their clients,” he says. “And this is extremely difficult to do without incorporating a client’s held away accounts, which often make up a significant portion of their assets. Partnering with Pontera allows us to provide advisors the additional tools they need to support their clients’ goals of creating long-term value and a more comfortable retirement.”

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