Investment Product and Service Launches

Art by Jackson Epstein

ProShares Unveils ETF Suite

ProShares will launch four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) benchmarked to the S&P Communication Services Select Sector Index next week. The new ETFs (XCOM, UCOM, YCOM and SCOM) will seek daily investment results that correspond to +/- 2x and +/- 3x the daily performance of the index, before fees and expenses. The suite of ETFs will be listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Arca.

“ProShares is committed to providing knowledgeable investors with a comprehensive set of tools for tactical investing,” says Ben Fulton, managing director of ProShares’ tactical products business. “To that end, we are particularly excited about adding leveraged and inverse communication services ETFs to our sector suite.”

The S&P Communication Services Select Sector Index covers the new communication services sector, which focuses on the evolution of communication, entertainment and information sharing. The sector brings together certain FAANG stocks, media giants and telecom leaders, among others. While this future-oriented corner of the equity market may be attractive for its long-term growth potential, ProShares leveraged and inverse communication services ETFs offer the opportunity for investors to seek profit from short-term moves—both up and down—as well.

TRPC Adds Stadion StoryLine to Retirement Solutions Platform

The Retirement Plan Company (TRPC) has made Stadion’s StoryLine available on its retirement solutions platform. TRPC is a national provider of account recordkeeping, third-party administration (TPA), and actuarial services for qualified retirement plans.

“For the past 25 years, TRPC’s platform has been an important vehicle for plan advisers looking for solutions that can help Americans realize their retirement dreams,” says Jud Doherty, president and CEO of Stadion Money Management. “We’re delighted that they’ve chosen StoryLine to be part of the TRPC family and look forward to a long and positive relationship with them.” 

The StoryLine process first seeks insight into the overall plan make-up with the intent of tailoring default options for each plan sponsor. With Stadion’s participant-centric web interface, employees can further define their individual investment paths based on personal risk profiles. StoryLine allows—at the employee’s discretion—the inclusion of outside and spousal assets to facilitate retirement planning. The end goal is to have each participant on a personalized path that goes well beyond typical age-based investment strategies. 

T. Rowe Price Creates Dynamic Credit Fund

T. Rowe Price has launched the Dynamic Credit Fund, a total return-oriented bond fund designed to generate returns through a combination of income and capital appreciation. The fund pursues returns that aim to be above the three-month LIBOR in U.S. dollar terms over a full market cycle. The strategy is designed to invest, both long and short, in a wide variety of global credit instruments and is not tied to particular benchmarks, asset classes, or sectors. The Dynamic Credit Fund also has the flexibility to invest across a broad range of traditional and non-traditional fixed income securities to find opportunities across sectors.

The Dynamic Credit Fund’s benchmark-agnostic strategy seeks to deliver attractive returns and defensively preserve capital through the credit cycle. It joins the T. Rowe Price Dynamic Global Bond Fund in T. Rowe Price’s suite of “Dynamic” bond fund offerings.

The fund will seek out high-conviction opportunities created by dynamic global market conditions and expects to hold a relatively concentrated portfolio of traditional and non-traditional fixed income securities, including corporate and sovereign bonds, bank loans, and securitized instruments, including mortgage- and asset-backed securities, across global and U.S. fixed income markets. The fund may also invest in non-investment grade and unrated bonds. 

The fund plans to use more derivatives than traditional bond funds in order to limit volatility while generating excess returns.

The Dynamic Credit Fund will be managed by Saurabh Sud, CFA, who joined T. Rowe Price in April 2018 to develop this strategy. Sud has 11 years of investment experience spanning corporate credit, high yield, securitized, emerging markets, and interest rate sectors. 

“T. Rowe Price has managed global bond portfolios for more than 30 years and this is a very exciting time for the evolution of our platform,” says Sud. “We listened to our clients and designed Dynamic Credit to seek an attractive return stream with a strong emphasis on capital preservation. As such, this fund can be seen as a complement to investors’ existing fixed income portfolios over the long term, and especially in volatile markets like now.”

Mutual of Omaha Adds American Funds TDF

Mutual of Omaha Retirement Services has added a new target-date series to its fund lineup and selection of qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs), the American Funds Target Date Retirement Series.

The American Funds series puts an emphasis on equities that pay dividends to help balance market and longevity risks and are managed on a glide path for 30 years after an employee’s approximate retirement date. The fund series seeks continued growth during retirement utilizing strong underlying funds and a commitment to lower costs.

In addition to the new target-date series, Mutual of Omaha is also adding American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund along with 14 other individual funds to expand its investment options across multiple asset categories.

“We’re very excited about these additions to our platform and look forward to working with the American Funds RPCs (Retirement Plan Counselors) to make our unique retirement plan product and service advantages available to advisers,” says John Corrieri, vice president of Mutual of Omaha Retirement Services. “One objective of our fund selection process is to always keep the plan sponsors’ fiduciary best interest in mind; we feel adding the American Funds series supports that goal.”