Orion Connect App On Salesforce.com
Omaha, Neb.-based Orion Advisor Services has released a new version of its portfolio accounting software for Salesforce.com and its AppExchange.
The Orion Connect app allows advisors to set up new accounts, view existing account holdings and transactions, execute trades, edit billing information, run reports and access their eProfile template, all from within Salesforce. Advisors can also customize the app. The program is built on Force.com, Salesforce.com's social enterprise cloud computing platform for employee-facing social apps.
"Orion Connect is a direct result of advisors asking for better integration among CRM, financial planning and custodian platforms," says Eric Clarke, president of Orion. "Through the app, advisors now have a single interface that allows them to spend more time growing their business and less time on administrative tasks and to utilize the mobile, open and social capabilities that only cloud technologies can deliver."
Orion Connect is available at www.salesforce.com/appexchange.
Jefferson National Expands Alternatives Lineup
Jefferson National, Louisville, Ky., has added the Hatteras Alpha Hedged Strategies Variable Fund to its Monument Advisor variable annuity. The addition of the Hatteras product, a fund of hedge funds, further expands Jefferson National's lineup of alternative strategies, giving clients access to multiple hedge fund managers.
Monument Advisor is the first flat-fee variable annuity, with more than 380 investment options, and is designed to serve as a tax-deferred investment solution for RIAs and fee-based advisors.
ProShares Launches Inverse Euro ETF
ProShares, a provider of alternative exchange-traded funds in Bethesda, Md., has launched the ProShares Short Euro fund (whose New York Stock Exchange ticker is EUFX). This is the first euro ETF in the United States to offer the a one times inverse of the daily performance of the U.S. dollar price of the euro, before fees and expenses. ProShares already has a fund, the ProShares UltraShort Euro (EUO), that corresponds to twice the opposite performance of the euro in U.S. dollars.
"Concerns over Europe have driven nearly $1 billion of assets into our [negative two times] euro ETF, since its launch less than four years ago," says Michael Sapir, chairman and CEO of ProShares Advisors. "We are launching EUFX in response to investor requests for an additional variation of an ETF with inverse exposure to the euro."
Natixis Launches Vaughan Nelson Equity Fund
Natixis Global Asset Management, headquartered in Paris and Boston, has launched the Vaughan Nelson Select Fund through its Vaughan Nelson Investment Management affiliate. This new equity fund is designed as a potential return enhancer for long-term equity investors and could be a complement to index fund positions.
The fund takes a concentrated approach to seek value opportunities, holding between 20 and 40 stocks in undervalued companies across the market capitalization spectrum.
"A concentrated approach allows us to focus on investment ideas in which we have the greatest conviction, fully expressing the views of Vaughan Nelson's experienced investment team in a single product," says Chris Wallis, president and CEO of Vaughan Nelson.
Vanguard Closes High-Yield Corporate Fund
Vanguard, based in Valley Forge, Pa., is closing its High-Yield Corporate Fund to most new accounts in an effort to curtail large cash inflows. The fund, which is the industry's third-largest high-yield corporate bond fund and holds $16.9 billion in net assets, has experienced cash flow totaling $2 billion over the past six months.
"In this prolonged, low-rate environment, we continue to see investors turn to high-yielding alternatives, so we are taking these proactive steps to preserve the ability of the advisor to manage the fund effectively and protect the interests of existing shareholders," says Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb.
CLS Offers Risk Tolerance Models
CLS Investments has entered into a strategic partnership with Envestnet, a provider of technology solutions for financial advisors, to provide 12 diverse investment models, built to conform to specified levels of risk tolerance, for use within client accounts. The models can be used to formulate a client's entire investment portfolio or complement other investment options. Each model is assigned a risk score relative to a diversified equity portfolio; that risk score becomes the risk level at which each portfolio is managed. CLS' methodology is unique in that, instead of relying on a stock-to-bond ratio to manage a portfolio's risk, CLS portfolio managers monitor and analyze the individual risk characteristics of more than 40 asset classes.