Investment Products and Services Launches

Invesco has announced the launch of the Peak Retirement Target Date Fund Series (PRF). The series is comprised of 12 outcome-oriented target-date funds (TDFs) offered in five-year increments. 

The investment approach for the funds will follow a glide path, managed by the Invesco global solutions development and implementation team. The glide path adjusts the underlying asset classes periodically to become more conservative as the stated target retirement date approaches.

“Invesco’s new target date series is one of the few to include active, passive and factor-based strategies along with alternatives exposure in a cost-efficient package,” says John Galateria, head of Invesco’s institutional business. “The unique investment approach to volatility seeks to limit the range of outcomes, which is critical, particularly for participants approaching retirement.” 

Key portfolio characteristics include a “through retirement” glide path designed to account for an investor’s full life expectancy, a managed volatility approach, as well as portfolios combining active strategies plus factor-based and market-cap-weighted exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Alternatives seeking to generate higher risk-adjusted returns and downside protection are also part of the mix.

As part of a long term strategic plan, Invesco will be expanding its defined contribution (DC) product offerings, leveraging its global solutions capabilities. 

Efficient Advisors Launches Mutual Fund Partnership with Dimensional

Efficient Advisors LLC has announced the new offering of Dimensional Fund Advisors (Dimensional) mutual funds to the advisers using the Efficient Advisors turnkey asset management platform (TAMP).

Dimensional targets higher expected returns by using the information in prices and fundamentals data to construct fully diversified portfolios, while seeking to mitigate unnecessary risks. 

“We are delighted to be able to increase the options we provide our advisers while adhering to our low-cost, diversified philosophy of asset management,” says Chris Powers, national sales manager for Efficient Advisors. “Like Dimensional, we believe in the power of factor investing. In working with Dimensional we have yet another way to help our advisers position their clients to take advantage of factors at a reasonable cost.”

Efficient Advisors’ portfolio models will deploy Dimensional’s mutual funds to build factor-based portfolios at various levels of risk so advisers can address their clients’ goals and needs.

Catalyst Funds and BNP Paribus Team up to Develop Index Funds

Catalyst Funds has partnered with BNP Paribas to create the BNP Paribas Catalyst Systematic Alpha Index (the “BNPP CASA Index”). Additionally, Catalyst has launched the Catalyst Systematic Alpha Fund (ATRAX), which provides exposure to the newly-created BNPP CASA Index.

The BNPP CASA Index allocates between seven different strategies developed by BNP Paribas’ quantitative investment strategies group, each specifically designed to harvest non-traditional sources of returns. Using a rules based, risk budget model, the BNPP CASA Index systematically allocates across each of these strategies, as frequently as daily, designed to adapt to various market conditions. Although the BNPP CASA Index synthetically invests across equities, fixed income, commodities and currencies, it is designed to offer a low correlation to these markets.

The ATRAX fund invests in securities that provide exposure to the BNPP CASA Index, mainly non-exchange-traded total return swap contracts. The fund also employs active management of a fixed income portfolio. The fund’s strategy, like the BNPP CASA Index, seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation with low correlation via exposure to systematic positions that generate uncorrelated alpha through a multi-risk premia strategy.

More information on the BNPP CASA Index and ATRAX can be found here.