Investment Products and Service Launches

Conway Acquires Alternative Investments Platform

Conway Investment Research has acquired operational control of the Guggenheim Alternatives Platform from GP Feeder Fund Management. Rebranded as the Conway Alternatives Platform, it provides institutional investors with access to alternative investments.

“We are very excited to be taking over the operation of these funds from Guggenheim and to continue to offer advisers and their clients the ability to access alternative investments at a lower investment threshold,” says Tom Margulis, Conway co-Founder. “We look forward to expanding the offering in the future to include more quality hedge funds, real estate funds and private equity and credit funds.”

GP Feeder Fund Management is a subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners and was the operational manager of the platform through November 30, 2016.

NEXT: ActiveAllocator Enhanced with TradeIt

ActiveAllocator Holdings has integrated withTradeIt, a proprietary order management system which securely routes trade orders to brokers.

This partnership enables investors to optimize their existing portfolios on ActiveAllocator by linking their brokerage account and sending order messages to their broker directly from ActiveAllocator's platform. Users login to their broker via secure oAuth popup, specify the type of order and number of securities to trade generated by ActiveAllocator, and execute the trade to optimize their portfolios. TradeIt further provides real-time portfolio data from the user's brokerage firm, which is imported into ActiveAllocator.

Sameer Jain and Brian Jones, ActiveAllocator's co-founders, said in a joint statement, "Our integration with TradeIt for trade execution will now allow our customers to optimize their portfolios by buying or selling publicly listed equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with their choice of broker. They can now trade securely, safely and quickly through most of the popular brokerages."

Nathan Richardson, co-founder and CEO of TradeIt adds, "TradeIt is fast becoming the platform of choice for seamless order execution through many of the large brokerages. Our partnership with ActiveAllocator helps financial advisers and retail investors to increase their investible universe, makes for automated implementation, permits scalability in managing assets, eases trading and periodic rebalancing and helps express house views while making strategic allocation decisions."

NEXT: Ascensus Upgrades D.C. College Savings Plan 

Ascensus Upgrades D.C. College Savings Plan

The District of Columbia has chosen Ascensus to serve as the investment manager of its D.C College Savings Plan. Ascensus recently launched a redesigned 529 account website for D.C. plan participants which allows them to more easily track their savings progress. The firm worked with the Office of Finance and Treasury, Lowe & Associates LLC, and Capital Cities LLC to craft a new investment lineup.

Ascensus College Savings provides all program management for the plan, including customer service and online functionality for account management. Ascensus is also responsible for marketing and distribution for the plan and will hire a local field representative to engage DC community groups and employers.

"We're pleased to partner with a 529 industry leader in our continued efforts to ensure the DC College Savings Plan helps our residents save for college," says Jeffrey Barnette, district deputy chief financial officer and treasurer. "Through our collaboration and partnership with Ascensus College Savings, we aim to help more District families cover rising education costs to give their children a brighter future."