Investment Product and Service Launches

DWS Group renames fixed income ETFs and MassMutual and NextCapital offer managed advice solution.

Art by Subin Yang

Art by Subin Yang

DWS Group Renames Fixed Income ETFs

DWS Group has announced changes to three fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The changes are effective as of May 12 and include changes to the ETFs’ names, ticker symbols, underlying indexes, investment objectives and investment policies. In connection with these changes, the ETFs’ respective advisory fees have also been reduced. The changed, renamed ETFs are:

Xtrackers J.P. Morgan ESG Emerging Markets Sovereign ETF (Cboe BZX Exchange

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Inc.: ESEB), previously Xtrackers Emerging Markets Bond—Interest Rate Hedged ETF (EMIH). ESEB seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the J.P. Morgan ESG EMBI Global Diversified Sovereign Index.

 Xtrackers J.P. Morgan ESG USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (Cboe BZX Exchange Inc.: ESHY), previously Xtrackers High Yield Corporate Bond—Interest Rate Hedged ETF (HYIH). ESHY seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the J.P. Morgan ESG DM Corporate High Yield USD Index.

Xtrackers Bloomberg Barclays US Investment Grade Corporate ESG ETF (Cboe BZX Exchange Inc.: ESCR), previously Xtrackers Investment Grade Bond—Interest Rate Hedged ETF (IGIH). ESCR seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Corporate Sustainability SRI Sector/Credit/Maturity Neutral Index.

The ETF changes serve to bolster DWS’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) capabilities and the continued Xtrackers fund family.

MassMutual and NextCapital Offer Managed Advice Solution

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) has added a new managed advice solution that allows for greater personalization of investment strategies.

The new service, called Manage My Retirement, is a professionally managed account service through NextCapital Advisers Inc. (NextCapital). It will help defined contribution (DC) retirement plan savers choose a path to retirement that matches their unique personalities and circumstances with the goal of helping them achieve better retirement outcomes.

The services are available for 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans and can be customized with a specific plan’s available investment options.

“Given the events of the last few months and the uncertain time we find ourselves in, personalization of retirement savings based on an individual’s broader goals is important now more than ever,” says Paul LaPiana, head of product for MassMutual. “Our new Manage My Retirement service helps savers in 401(k)s and other retirement plans personalize their retirement savings journey to help them retire on their own terms, even in light of the hardship we’ve faced in recent months.”

NextCapital’s Manage My Retirement “advice engine” builds a personalized retirement plan and portfolio for each participant, using up to 30 specific data points, including retirement age, savings rate, gender, marital status, health, salary risk, guaranteed income and funding gap, among others. These data points are used to create a personalized investment portfolio, which is monitored and automatically adjusted as circumstances change. Manage My Retirement also gives each participant a personalized retirement plan, which includes start date and savings recommendations, as well as retirement income forecasts.

“The $8 trillion defined contribution market is shifting to personalized managed advice to better meet the unique needs of each retirement saver,” adds Rob Foregger, co-founder and executive vice president of NextCapital. “With over 2.6 million retirement plan participants, we are excited MassMutual has selected NextCapital’s digital advice platform to help deliver better retirement outcomes.”

Manage My Retirement will also focus on the needs of advisory firms and plan advisers. By leveraging NextCapital’s technology, MassMutual can provide customized solutions for different firms. These firms can include their own investment selections, choose varying levels of advisory interaction and choose their fiduciary role.

Goldman Sachs to Acquire Folio Financial

Financial services industry merger and acquisition activity has been affected the by coronavirus crisis, but deals continue to be inked—especially among firms looking to serve the needs of registered investment advisers.

Through a letter penned and published by its chief executive officer, Steven Wallman, Folio Financial on Wednesday announced it has entered into an agreement to become a part of the Goldman Sachs Group.

PLANADVISER has independently confirm the news with Goldman Sachs, and according to Wallman, the acquisition “represents the culmination of discussions that started in 2019.”

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The closing, he says, is subject to regulatory approval and is expected in the third quarter of 2020.

“Joining with Goldman Sachs fulfills Folio’s long-term goal of partnering with a pre-eminent financial services firm to increase the reach and impact of the investment technology and services that many hundreds of people over the last two decades have dedicated their lives to creating,” Wallman says. “This transaction is another landmark event in Folio’s history, as it will further enhance our innovations and bring scale to our business, particularly in the execution, clearing and custody space. Goldman Sachs and Folio share a commitment to serving the needs of our clients and to expanding the scope of sustainable, responsible and impact investing. The combination of Folio’s patented technologies and services with Goldman Sachs’ investment solutions and access to global resources will create material value for our clients.”

This acquisition is far from the first to be made in recent years by Goldman Sachs in the area of financial services technology. As Rob Foregger, co-founder of Next Capital, recently told PLANADVISER, Goldman Sachs’ technology acquisition and innovation strategy is “part of one of the biggest but somewhat overlooked financial news stories going on right now.”

«