Investment Product and Service Launches

Art by Jackson Epstein

American Beacon and Asset Management Firm Launch Bond Fund

American Beacon Advisors Inc. has launched the American Beacon TwentyFour Short Term Bond Fund (A Class: TFBAX; C Class: TFBCX; Y Class: TFBYX; R6 Class: TFBRX). The fund’s shares became available on February 18.

American Beacon serves as the manager of the fund, while TwentyFour Asset Management (US) LP serves as the sub-adviser. TwentyFour is a boutique investment firm specializing in fixed-income strategies for institutional and high-net-worth investors.

The fund’s objective is to seek a positive return based on a combination of income and capital growth. The investment team of the fund takes a genuine long-only approach, with an unlevered bond strategy, designed to keep volatility low. 

“We look forward to working with American Beacon to support this new fund, especially at a time when yields are low, volatility is likely to rise and investors are looking to improve risk-adjusted returns,” says Mark Holman, CEO of TwentyFour Asset Management. 

The American Beacon TwentyFour Short Term Bond Fund is the second American Beacon investment product sub-advised by TwentyFour; the American Beacon TwentyFour Strategic Income Fund launched in 2017.

Hartford Funds and Wellington Management Release ETF

Hartford Funds has launched Hartford Core Bond ETF (CBOE: HCRB), a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) sub-advised by Wellington Management, which seeks to provide long-term total return by investing primarily in investment-grade fixed income securities. HCRB expands the firm’s product suite to five actively managed fixed income ETFs.

HCRB is designed to provide investors with fixed income exposure from diversified sources of return across multiple perspectives, investment styles and time horizons, including U.S. government, credit and securitized instruments. The fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in investment-grade fixed income securities. 

“Hartford Core Bond ETF is designed to satisfy an increasing investor appetite for high quality core bond offerings, especially in ETF vehicles,” says Ted Lucas, head of Investment Strategies and Solutions at Hartford Funds. “With the prospect of increasing market volatility, we believe this offering is particularly relevant for investors seeking options that aim to provide returns while managing risk.”

Joseph Marvan, Campe Goodman and Robert Burn, the same portfolio management team that sub-advises Hartford Total Return Bond ETF (NYSE: HTRB) and similar mutual fund products, will serve as portfolio managers of the Hartford Core Bond ETF. HCRB’s estimated current expense ratio is 0.29%.

Vanguard Announces Lower Expense Ratios on Select ETFs

Vanguard has reported lower expense ratios on four ETFs, including the $8.3 billion Vanguard Extended Market ETF, the $21.9 billion Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF, the $12.6 billion Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF, and the $4.8 billion Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF. Vanguard also reported lower expenses on three mutual fund share classes of Vanguard Extended Market Fund.

In aggregate, these changes represent $12.9 million in savings returned to investors, bringing the total 2019 fiscal year client savings to $85.1 million. The accompanying table shows a full list of expense ratio changes by fund.

According to Vanguard, the 2018 expense ratios listed above reflect figures published in each fund’s last annual report and prospectus. Updated 2019 figures will not be reflected in the funds’ online profiles until each fund files its next prospectus.