Investment Product and Service Launches

Envestnet PMC Launches ActivePassive ETFs

Envestnet PMC has launched a series of ActivePassive exchange-traded funds.

“Our mission has always been to provide investors with a single portfolio that marries the best attributes of both active and passive investing at a low cost,” said Dana D’Auria, co-chief investment officer and group president of Envestnet Solutions.

The new ETFs will be featured in the ActivePassive PMC ETF Portfolios. The ETF allows financial advisers to access the combined strategy within cost-effective, tax-efficient, liquid and transparent investment vehicles.

“Our ActivePassive portfolios and ETF wrapper options simplify the blending of active and passive investments for advisors, aimed at allowing them to devote more time to revenue-producing activities and helping to improve outcomes for their clients,” said Brooks Friederich, principal director of research strategy at Envestnet PMC.

Orion Advisor Technology Goes Live With Industry’s First ChatGPT Integration

Orion Advisor Solutions went live with a ChatGPT 3.5 series integration available in Redtail Speak, its compliant, real-time communication platform for financial advisers.

“Redtail Speak’s first-of-its-kind integration with ChatGPT will allow advisors to have an assistive technology at their fingertips while keeping them in control of responding to clients,” said Brian McLaughlin, president of Orion Advisor Technology and the co-founder and CEO of Redtail Technology before its 2022 acquisition by Orion, in a statement. “This marks the beginning of Orion’s journey to integrate AI into our applications.”

The integration builds upon the previous 20 text messages between the adviser team and client, incorporating the necessary context into the dialogue created by ChatGPT. Using artificial intelligence, the platform is then able to provide automatic prompts and recommended responses to client questions with vital knowledge of the adviser-client relationship.

AI Chatbot Mo Debuts in Morningstar Platforms

Morningstar Inc. launched a beta version of its generative artificial intelligence chatbot named “Mo” across multiple Morningstar platforms.

Mo is designed to summarize Morningstar’s independent insights in a conversational format for investors and investment professionals.

“Mo is a digital research assistant that uses the power of the Morningstar Intelligence Engine to put Morningstar’s research just a question away,” said James Rhodes, Morningstar’s chief technology officer, in a statement. “We look forward to learning how people interact with the beta so we can improve and expand its capabilities to make the day-to-day investing experience better.”

Mo is powered by the Morningstar Intelligence Engine, a platform that pairs Morningstar’s investment research library with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service.

Savvy Ladies Expands Free Financial Helpline

Savvy Ladies LLC announced the mobile expansion of its Free Financial Helpline, supported by the Nasdaq Foundation.

The new mobile portal provides a personalized experience for on-demand access to pro bono volunteer financial professionals for women seeking answers to financial questions.

“Women from all backgrounds face daunting barriers to financial security, including income inequality, a wide gap in retirement savings, and the impact of family and caregiving,” said Stacy Francis, founder of Savvy Ladies, in a statement. “Compounding the problem is a wide gender gap in financial literacy and confidence—consistent across women from all backgrounds, socio-economic levels, and generations. Savvy Ladies, with its new Helpline expansion, is changing that.”

GreenHill Launches Performance Reporting Solution

GreenHill Investment Reporting, an independent provider of investment performance reporting services, announced an enhanced solution for registered investment advisers.

The solution enables RIAs to deliver an improved, personalized client experience by providing access to customizable reporting and analysis.

“Retaining and attracting investors in the highly competitive financial services industry requires providing today’s increasingly savvy investors with a differentiated experience that builds client trust,” said Jack Curran, executive vice president of sales at GreenHill, in a statement. “Our investment performance reporting solution empowers RIAs to do just that by providing sophisticated reporting and analysis that enable them to provide expert insights and guidance that maximize portfolio performance outcomes.”

AssetMark Launches First Trust Investment Strategies for Financial Advisers

AssetMark announced the addition of First Trust, one of the industry’s largest actively managed exchange-traded fund providers and innovators, to its platform.

Three First Trust strategies were added to AssetMark’s platform spanning the investment spectrum from core to satellite: First Trust Strategic Risk Core Portfolios, First Trust Diversified Low Duration Fixed Income and First Trust Alternatives.

“First Trust is known for providing trusted investment products and advisory services as well as for their focus on the needs of financial professionals and their clients,” said David McNatt, executive vice president of investment solutions for AssetMark, in a statement. “The addition of First Trust to AssetMark’s platform of solutions is another proof point in our ongoing journey to provide advisers access to innovative products and service to help them best serve the evolving needs of their clients.”