Investment Products and Service Launches

Nationwide Launches All Cap Growth Fund

The Nationwide Loomis All Cap Growth Fund will seek long-term growth and may invest across sectors, industries and market capitalization. It will be subadvised by Boston-based Loomis, Sayles & Company; and managed by Aziz Hamzaogullari, head of the growth equities strategy team at Loomis Sayles.

The Nationwide Loomis All Cap Growth Fund (Class A: NWZLX; Class R6: NWZMX; Institutional Service Class: NWZNX) maintains an objective to seek long-term growth and may invest across sectors, industries and market capitalization. The portfolio management team seeks high-quality companies trading at a significant discount to intrinsic value that exhibit sustainable competitive advantages, long-term structural growth drivers, attractive cash flow returns on invested capital and management teams focused on creating long-term value for shareholders.

The fund’s portfolio structure has the flexibility to add names of any market capitalization in an attempt to exploit optimal opportunities in growth.

“We look forward to working with Aziz and his team at Loomis Sayles, a company that is well respected and has a long and impressive history of creating returns for shareholders,” says Chris Graham, chief investment officer of Nationwide Funds. “Aziz’s high-conviction all cap domestic growth approach to investing in companies which exhibit sustainable secular growth has consistently generated alpha for institutional investors.”

This is the second fund launched by Nationwide this year. In January, it released the Nationwide International Small Cap Fund. This fund offers investors the opportunity to diversify their international equity exposure with the objective of providing long-term capital growth.

NEXT: MFS Adds R6 Shares to 20 More Mutual Funds

MFS Adds R6 Shares to 20 More Mutual Funds

MFS Investment Management announced plans to add Class R6 shares to 20 additional mutual funds. These shares carry no sales charges, 12b-1 fees, or accounting fees. Nationwide notes they will count as “clean shares” under current regulatory guidance.

"Since their introduction, MFS has seen strong demand from clients for our Class R6 or 'clean shares,' initially in the retirement market and later for advisory programs," says Michael Keenan, senior managing director of National Accounts with MFS. “More recently, there has been an increasing interest for clean shares from brokerage platforms as clients formulate potential solutions regarding the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Standard rule."   

MFS began adding Class R6 (then-called "Class R5") shares in 2012 to its U.S. open-end retail mutual fund line up. The next phase is expected to begin June 2 and last nine months. By March 2, 2018, the firm plans to have 79 U.S.-domiciled mutual funds with Class R6 shares available to retirement plans and for inclusion in certain asset-based advisory fee programs.  

"Class R6 shares offer plan advisers and plan sponsors greater flexibility when constructing defined contribution plans and investment menu options for participants," added Ryan Mullen, senior managing director for Defined Contribution and RIA sales at MFS. "In addition, as more advisers turn toward fee-based models, Class R6 shares may be an appropriate option for asset-based advisory platforms as well."

For more information about these funds including expected launch dates, visit MFS.com.

NEXT: Fidelity Releases Municipal Income 2025 Fund

Fidelity Releases Municipal Income 2025 Fund

Fidelity Investments is rolling out is Fidelity Municipal Income 2025 Fund.

The fund will seek a level of current income, exempt from federal income tax, as is consistent with the preservation of capital by normally investing at least 80% of assets in investment-grade municipal securities, whose interest is exempt from federal income tax. It will be actively managed by the firm’s municipal bond team.

“With aging demographics, the need for income-specific investment solutions among U.S. investors will only continue to grow,” says Nancy Prior, president of Fidelity’s Fixed Income division. “Extending the lineup will maintain a range of target maturities for investors managing varying income needs.”

This fund is an addition to Fidelity’s Defined Maturity Funds (DMF) lineup, which seeks to bridge the gap between bond funds and individual bonds.

“The DMF funds may be appropriate for income-seeking investors who are interested in combining the defined-maturity feature of individual bonds with the many features of bond funds, including diversification and professional management, thus removing much of the legwork of individual bond investing,” Prior adds.

Fidelity says that for investors concerned about interest rate and reinvestment risk, these innovative funds offer a way to reduce volatility and provide a declining exposure to interest rate risk as each fund approaches a specific maturity date.

The current offering includes funds with target maturity dates of 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025. They are a series of open-ended mutual funds, each of which invests in municipal bonds that are clustered around a specific maturity. With “maturities” staggered two years apart, the funds allow investors the opportunity to invest in multiple DMFs with different end dates similar to the exercise of laddering individual securities. At its target end date, each fund will distribute its assets to shareholders and allow for reinvestment at then current interest rates.

For more information, visit Fidelity.com  

NEXT:T. Rowe Price Releases High Yield Fund

T. Rowe Price Releases High Yield Fund

The T. Rowe Price U.S. High Yield Fund will focus on total return through investments in U.S. high yield bonds. It comes ahead of the firm's acquisition of the Henderson High Yield Opportunities Fund from Henderson Global Investors. Its primary benchmark will be the BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Constrained Index.

The fund is managed by Kevin Loome, CFA. Prior to joining T. Rowe Price, Loome was head of U.S. Credit and manager of the High Yield team at Henderson Global Investors, where he managed the Henderson High Yield Opportunities Fund. He rejoins T. Rowe Price, where he worked as a fixed income investment professional from 1996 to 2007.

T. Rowe Price says the fund is a concentrated "high conviction" portfolio of primarily high yield securities from across the capital structure spectrum, positioned to navigate all phases of the credit cycle. Loome expects the fund's portfolio to consist of approximately 75 to 200 issuers.

The fund will be offered with Investor, Advisor, and I Class shares.

Vanguard Announces Latest Fund Expense Changes 

Vanguard reported expense ratios changes for funds with fiscal years ending January 31, 2017, marking the final round of changes covering the 2016 – 2017 fiscal year period.

Over the past six months, 226 Vanguard mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares reported expense ratio decreases for an estimated $337 million in cumulative savings based on total assets. Over this same period, 160 fund shares reported no change and 14 fund shares reported an increase in expense ratios.

“Lowering costs can give our clients a better chance for investment success. In fact, more than 50% of our investment offerings—spanning all product types, asset classes, and management styles—have reported expense ratio reductions over the last six months,” says Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb. “We continue to look for ways to reduce the cost of investing. At the same time, we are also investing in people and technology to protect our clients’ assets, help improve their fund performance, and serve them more effectively and efficiently with the ultimate goal of improving their outcomes and overall investing experience at Vanguard.”

Four Vanguard mutual funds and one ETF are reporting lower expense ratios:

• Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund Investor Shares (VDAIX) declined 2 basis points to 0.17%.
• Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund Admiral Shares (VDADX) declined 1 basis point to 0.08%.
• Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) declined 1 basis point to 0.08%.
• Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund (VDIGX) declined 3 basis points to 0.30%.
• Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Fund Admiral Shares (VWETX) declined 1 basis point to 0.11%.

Six actively managed mutual funds reported an expense ratio increase, three of which were a result of performance incentives and three of which were due to increased expenses:

• Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares (VGHCX) increased 1 basis point to 0.37%.
• Vanguard Health Care Fund Admiral Shares (VGHAX) increased 1 basis point to 0.32%.
• Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining Fund (VGPMX) increased 8 basis points to 0.43%.
• Vanguard Energy Fund Investor Shares (VGENX) increased 4 basis points to 0.41%.
• Vanguard Energy Fund Admiral Shares (VGELX) increased 2 basis points to 0.33%.
• Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Fund Investor Shares (VWESX) increased 1 basis point to 0.22%.