Products April 2, 2008

Smith Barney Unit Launches UMA Program

Consulting Group, the managed money unit of Smith Barney, has announced the launch of a new unified managed account program, Select UMA.
Reported by
According to a press release, Consulting Group’s new UMA can accommodate a blend of separately managed accounts (SMAs), mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and alternative investments in mutual fund format “…within one fully-integrated account, with a single asset allocation plan, contract, performance report and year-end tax statement.’
Select UMA offers strategic and tactical asset allocation models for both taxable and tax-exempt investors across a spectrum of asset classes, investment styles and risk levels. The program also employs overlay management to automatically correct for sizable asset allocation shifts and provides optional tax-management services via tax-loss harvesting and other tax liability management techniques.
The firm notes that, in addition to the convenience of a single account, adviser clients can benefit from a customized portfolio diversified across a variety of investment vehicles and managers. Additionally, the automated services provided by overlay management, along with automated account administration and performance reporting, is expected to provide Financial Advisors with more quality time to interact with clients.
Founded in 1973, the Consulting Group works with Smith Barney financial advisors and their clients, both institutional and individual, to develop customized investment, economic and asset allocation strategies based on their individual financial objectives.
Additional information may be found at: www.smithbarney.com/consultinggroup.
Products April 2, 2008

New Vanguard Fund Goes Global

Vanguard has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the firm’s first passively managed global index fund.
Reported by
The Vanguard Global Stock Index Fund will offer three share classes – Investor Shares, Institutional Shares, and ETF Shares – that are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2008.
The new fund will seek to track the performance of the FTSE All-World Index, a float-adjusted, market-capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the equity market performance of large- and mid-capitalization stocks worldwide. The fund will invest in a broadly diversified sampling of securities from the target benchmark, which comprises more than 2,800 large- and mid-cap stocks of companies in 48 countries, according to Vanguard. Approximately 55% of the index is made up of stocks from outside the United States.
The fund’s ETF Shares have an estimated expense ratio of 0.25%. The fund’s Investor Shares, which will require a $3,000 minimum initial investment, have an estimated expense ratio of 0.45%, and the Institutional Shares, with a $5 million minimum initial investment requirement, have an estimated expense ratio of 0.20%.
To offset the transaction costs associated with global investing and to protect the interests of long-term shareholders, the fund will assess a 0.15% purchase fee on all non-ETF share purchases and a 2% redemption fee on all non-ETF assets redeemed within two months of purchase, according to the announcement.
Three Vanguard funds currently track FTSE benchmarks:
  • Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund,
  • Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index Fund, and
  • Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund.

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