Fidelity’s New Risk & Compliance Hub
Fidelity Investments has added a new “Risk & Compliance Hub” to its Streetscape technology platform. It is designed to operate as an automated and centralized compliance tool that monitors transactional and operational activity within a firm.
According to a recent Fidelity survey, this new resource is timely because many financial advisors are concerned that shifts in the regulatory and compliance environment will make their jobs more difficult. The time dedicated to managing these issues may be keeping them from engaging in social media.
Features of the Risk & Compliance Hub include a security and fraud protection function that helps protect users’ identifications. An anti-money-laundering capability is available to detect suspicious trading activity. The pre-trade rules engine evaluates submitted orders to lessen operational and financial risks, and the post-trade sales practice review helps automate a review of client trade activity against regulatory guidelines. The hub also has a social media oversight capability that may make it easier for financial advisors to engage with clients on networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
The use of social media is particularly important for advisors to attract the next generation of investors. “The new enhancement to the Streetscape workstation may allow broker-dealers to more confidently operate in today’s risk and compliance environment while also taking advantage of new marketing channels,” says Richard N. Hart III, head of platform technology for National Financial.
Merrill Lynch Launches ‘Face Retirement’ App
To encourage young clients to save for retirement, Bank of America Merrill Edge has a new app called “Face Retirement.” This tool can age a picture, allowing a user to see how he or she will look years into the future.
“In a Stanford University experiment, people who saw age-enhanced images of themselves were more likely to save more for retirement, compared to those who weren’t exposed to their future selves,” explains Alok Prasad, head of Merrill Edge.
With that thought in mind, the app also allows the user to preview forecast cost-of-living increases and provides information on how to begin saving. Users can also share the pictures of themselves in the future on Facebook.
MainStay Introduces Alternative Strategy Fund of Funds
MainStay Investments is offering two new funds, the Private Advisors Alternative Strategies Master Fund and the Private Advisors Alternative Strategies Fund. Sub-advised by New York Life affiliate Private Advisors of Richmond, Va., the funds are structured as “master-feeder” hedge fund-of-funds investment vehicles, tailored to small-to-medium size institutional investors and financial advisors.
The funds offer hedge fund strategies through a more liquid registered investment option than other hedge funds do.
Stephen Fisher, president of the MainStay Funds, explains, “Today, we’re seeing more and more demand among individual investors for investments that offer the benefits of hedge funds—long-term capital appreciation, less volatility and a low correlation to the equity and fixed-income markets—with more liquidity and flexibility.”
Franklin Templeton Introduces “Advantage Hypotheticals” Tool
A new online tool from Franklin Templeton Investments, “Advantage Hypotheticals” is designed to help financial advisors when they make fund recommendations to clients. With the tool, advisors can create model portfolios with Franklin Templeton funds or funds from other companies and evaluate the results in a single report customized for the client.
“Our tool lets the advisor build a comprehensive portfolio from the entire universe of retail mutual funds available, regardless of the fund family,” says David McSpadden, senior vice president of global advisory services. The resulting report can also be tailored to include as much analytical detail as the advisor believes the client will want to see.”
Compass Adds 13 New Mutual Funds
Compass EMP Funds of Nashville, Tenn., has launched 13 new mutual funds. Eight of the funds track the CEMP volatility-weighted indexes and the remaining five funds are fixed income portfolios or offer exposure to specific alternative asset classes.
“We feel these eight funds, coupled with the launch of the five unique, individual alternative asset class funds, will allow today’s investors further options in their pursuit of institutional-level money management,” says Stephen M. Hammers, chief investment officer of Compass EMP Funds. For additional information, visit the Web site www.CompassEMPFunds.com.