Investment Products and Services Launches

Charles Schwab Adds More Commission-Free ETFs

Charles Schwab has expanded its suite of commission-free exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Schwab ETF OneSource lineup will now include 15 new investment vehicles. These additions allow Charles Schwab to offer 245 ETFs covering 69 Morningstar Categories with $0 online commissions, no enrollment requirements and no early redemption fees.

Additions to the program include a variety of Morningstar categories such as High Yield Bond, Energy Limited Partnership and Diversified Emerging Markets. Sixteen ETF providers participate in the Schwab ETF OneSource program including ALPS Advisors, Deutsche Asset Management, John Hancock Investments, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

“Schwab ETF OneSource continues to grow as investors and advisers allocate more of their portfolios to ETFs,” says Heather Fischer, vice president, ETF & Mutual Fund Platforms at Charles Schwab. “It’s extremely important to offer a broad selection of ETF categories and ETF providers, so that investors have the most choice when evaluating commission-free ETFs.”

NEXT:John Hancock Continues Reducing Mutual Fund Fees

John Hancock Continues Reducing Mutual Fund Fees

John Hancock Investments has announced expense reductions on six mutual funds and two closed-end funds representing more than $6.9 billion in assets under management. Reductions of up to 20 basis points—or as much as 17% per fund—vary by fund and result from a combination of direct management fee cuts, contractual expense caps, new breakpoints, and growing economies of scale.

The announcement marks the third expense reduction this year for John Hancock Investments. In April, the firm implemented new fee schedules for John Hancock Seaport Fund and John Hancock Emerging Markets Fund. In February, it cut fees on some of its target-date portfolios for the defined contribution (DC) retirement plan marketplace following multiple rounds of expense reductions since 2014.

"At John Hancock Investments, we remain intensely focused on expenses and on ensuring that our funds are competitively priced for investors,” says Andrew G. Arnott, president and CEO. “That is an important facet of our goal of maximizing the value we provide our mutual fund shareholders.”

A table listing reduced fees for John Hancock mutual funds can be found at JohnHancock.com.

NEXT: Rise Financial Opens its Doors for Socially Responsible Investing

Rise Financial Opens its Doors for Socially Responsible Investing

The San Francisco Bay Area is now home to Rise Financial, a new advisory firm focusing on socially responsible investing (SRI). In recent years, major assets have been pouring into these strategies. The US SIF Foundation found that the total assets under management using socially responsible strategies was $8.7 trillion at the start of 2016, representing an increase of 33% since 2014, according to the announcement. Moreover, the number of SRI-focused companies and investment products continues to rise. There are now 181 SRI mutual funds and 39 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S.

Rise Financial founder and CEO Ken Ancell has worked in the investment industry for more than 30 years. Fifteen of those have been spent as a financial adviser investing in companies and solutions looking to bring about positive social and environmental change. 

"I started Rise Financial not to capitalize on the growing trend in the industry, but to help individual investors in the community make positive social changes," says Ancell. "Our goal at Rise Financial is to promote social causes through responsible investing while at the same time helping people save for their future."

Rise Financial offers individual, families and institutional investors various services including investment management, estate planning, charitable giving, tax planning, insurance services and retirement planning. The firm offers various SRI options as part of their portfolio planning services.

For more information about Rise Financial, visit www.risefinancial.com

NEXT:Firms Partner on Portfolio Analytics System 

Firms Partner on Portfolio Analytics System  

dv01, a reporting and analytics platform serving institutional investors, announced a partnership with the consumer credit platform Upgrade.

Initially, the collaboration will provide investors with access to Upgrade data via dv01’s analytics platform which includes a portfolio management solution. Investors later will have access to a suite of tools designed to aid in high-level portfolio overview. These components also will offer guidance on loan composition, performance metrics, and credit metrics.

"We're excited that Upgrade chose to partner with dv01 at the very beginning of its working relationship with capital markets," says Perry Rahbar, founder and CEO of dv01. "This partnership ensures that Upgrade investors will have full transparency into their loan portfolios, as well as best-in-class tools to streamline reporting and analytics efforts."

dv01 will also act as loan data agent for Upgrade's securitizations and provide investors access to its Securitization Explorer, which includes loan-level performance and composition details of upcoming deals, as well as reporting and analytics tools for use after a deal closes. Upgrade expects to access the securitization market on a quarterly basis.

"We intend to bring a new wave of innovation and increased transparency to both sides of the marketplace, consumers and investors," says Upgrade Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Renaud Laplanche. "In particular, we are committed to increasing transparency for both whole loan buyers and securitization investors. Our partnership with dv01 will provide institutional investors access to the most up-to-date Upgrade data available—including monthly refresh of credit bureau information—and the tools necessary to analyze that data efficiently."

OppenheimerFunds Launches Revenue-Weighted ETFs 

OppenheimerFunds is expanding its Beta Solutions product offerings with the launch of three new revenue-weighted exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the emerging, global and international market segments.

The firm has introduced Oppenheimer Emerging Markets Revenue ETF (REEM), Oppenheimer Global Revenue ETF (RGLB), and Oppenheimer International Revenue ETF (REFA).

"Our newest ETF solutions were created in direct response to our clients' growing appetite for revenue-weighted strategies in the global marketplace," says Sharon French, head of Beta Solutions at OppenheimerFunds. "Our approach offers a durable value proposition, with attractive risk-adjusted performance and the broad market diversification that has historically attracted investors to index strategies."

Oppenheimer Emerging Markets Revenue ETF (REEM) seeks to outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, with an expense ratio of 46 basis points. Oppenheimer Global Revenue ETF (RGLB) seeks to outperform the MSCI All Country World Index, with an expense ratio of 43 basis points. Oppenheimer International Revenue ETF (REFA) seeks to outperform the MSCI EAFE Index, with an expense ratio of 42 basis points.

The securities in each of the new funds are weighted by their trailing 12-month top-line revenue, rather than their market capitalization, with a 5% maximum portfolio weight for any one issuer. The funds are rebalanced quarterly.

Oppenheimer's fundamentally weighted ETFs offer a way for advisers, wealth managers, and consultants to access broad market exposure in a potentially more optimal way than traditional market capitalization strategies. By weighting securities in broad market indices based on revenue rather than market capitalization, the fundamentally weighted strategies offer the opportunity to reduce overexposure to potentially overpriced sectors and stocks while still providing the broad diversification of an index.

"As we continue to build out our smart beta business, we're pleased to offer new International and Global ETF products that complement our long history of global investing and allow our clients a new way to access the international markets," says Art Steinmetz, Chairman and CEO, OppenheimerFunds. 

The new offerings build on the firm's existing suite of Oppenheimer Revenue Weighted ETFs, which include solutions in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) space, and also broaden the firm's overall investment platform, which includes actively managed equity, fixed-income, alternative and multi-asset solutions.