The S&P 500 Equal Weight index mutual fund (Nasdaq: INDEX) is similar in composition to other equal-weight products.

After realizing that the top 10%—or top 50—stocks in the S&P 500 make up around 50% of its market capitalization, while the
bottom 40% of stocks are barely represented, Index Funds sought to create an indexed product that better represents S&P 500 constituents.

The S&P 500 Equal Weight index fund is Index Funds’ first product and carries an expense ratio of only 30 basis points 

Though the fund was launched months ago with $3 million in seed money, Index Funds began a marketing push after the August 24 market decline, when many indexed ETFs experienced price drops many times larger than the decline of their constituent stocks.

Unlike smart-beta ETFs, Index Funds’ mutual fund does not trade like a stock and is not subject to intraday volatility.  

The new fund will be rebalanced quarterly with the S&P 500 index, and will be managed by Index Funds president Michael Willis.

“There’s a good reason why $7 trillion USD are benchmarked to the S&P 500 index; most investors and managers can’t beat it,” Willis said. “We tried to beat the S&P 500 for 20 years and we couldn’t, so we launched a mutual fund company solely dedicated to creating low-cost index funds.”
 

Securian Introduces Guaranteed Minimum Accumulation Benefit
St. Paul, Minn.-based Securian Financial Group has launched SureTrack Plus 90, a new guaranteed minimum accumulation benefit for variable annuities.

The new benefit is available for use on select variable annuities issued by Minnesota Life Insurance Company and distributed through Securian Financial Services for an additional cost. On the benefit date, clients are guaranteed a contract value that equals their total purchase payments or 90% of the highest anniversary contract value, whichever is greater.

The SureTrack Plus 90 may suit clients within 10 years from retirement who are looking for market participation with a base guarantee.

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