Nasdaq Launches Platform to Enhance Alt Liquidity
Nasdaq Private Market has launched Alternatives to provide liquidity for alternative funds.

NPM Alternatives will connect buyers and sellers through a fully automated auction-based technology supported by institutional buyers.

Participants conduct due diligence, submit buy and sell bids, execute agreements and facilitate transfer of payment through a single technology.

Fund managers will also be able to control which funds participate in the liquidity events. Block chain technology will be harnessed to help streamline the payment process. Standardized agreements are managed and executed via the platform, and final settlement amounts are calculated and payment is facilitated through NPM’s registered broker-dealer.

“With the increasing demand for alternative investment products from high-net-worth investors, and fund managers’ desire to expand access to new investors, a solution for liquidity becomes a critical enabler for new capital formation,” said Adena Friedman the CEO of Nasdaq, in a statement. “The question of liquidity continues to challenge the alternatives industry, and Nasdaq is excited to leverage its core strengths to bring this essential evolution to market.”

NPM Alternatives allows fund managers to provide secondary liquidity to their investors, creating opportunities for new product vehicles and expanding access points to new sources of capital while maintaining control over the investors permitted in their funds.

At launch, NPM Alternatives will focus on serving private equity funds and other registered funds targeting high-net-worth investors.


DST Introduces Retirement Plan Health Dashboard
DST has introduced a new analytical tool for retirement plan sponsors and advisors.

The Retirement Solutions Plan Health Dashboard provides plan advisors with real-time, data-driven insight into the health of their retirement plan business while offering sponsors the opportunity to better understand their plan’s performance.

The dashboard will measure key health indicators, benchmark plans against their peer groups and offer analytics-based modeling within an interactive, mobile-friendly design.

The platform will also provide targeted recommendations for improvement to advisors and sponsors.

DST says its new tool will help plan fiduciaries monitor, benchmark and adjust plan elements to meet their compliance obligations and to support participants.
 

RSF Rolls Out Social Finance Fellowships
RSF Social Finance has launched a new training program for financial advisors interested in socially responsible investing.

The Integrated Capital Fellowship for Financial Activists is designed for professionals who work with family foundations, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and community foundations.

The fellowship is a nine-month program involving three in-person training intensives running three to four days each, one-on-one sessions with expert advisors, peer coaching, case studies, webinars and independent study.

Fellows will learn to apply RSF’s integrated capital approach using diverse financing tools to support enterprises solving complex social and environmental problems.

RSF will select 15 to 20 people for its inaugural program.
 

Hartford Goes Active With Fixed-Income ETFs
Hartford Funds has launched two actively managed fixed-income ETFs.

The Hartford Quality Bond ETF is a conservative core bond fund emphasizing investment-grade debt, including U.S. government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The ETF will trade under the ticker HQBD.

The Hartford Corporate Bond ETF will trade under the ticker HCOR and offer exposure to predominantly investment-grade corporate bonds taking a total return approach, with income as a secondary objective.

These are the first actively managed ETFs sponsored by Hartford Funds. Both will be sub-advised by Wellington Management Company.
 

FinMason API Offers Rapid Portfolio Analytics
FinMason has launched a new set of analytical tools for wealth managers.

The FinRiver Investment Analytics API will give advisors access to the Algonath, FinMason’s independent analytics platform that it describes as one of the “largest” in wealth management.

The new API can be used to run thousands of calculations on portfolios in milliseconds, including risk and performance metrics, factor exposure aggregation, scenario analyses, stress testing and Monte Carlo simulations.

The Algonath can calculate a standard analytical payload on a 50-asset portfolio in less than 20 milliseconds, and via FinRiver can deliver results to advisors in customized data sets.
 

Putnam Shuffles Small Cap Mutual Funds
Putnam Investments is juicing its small-cap equity business with hires and investment strategy shifts.

David Diamond, the founder of High Rock Capital, will join Putnam as co-manager of the Putnam Small Cap Value Fund.

Putnam also will expand its small-cap equity research team and shuffle the managers of three mutual funds: the Putnam Capital Opportunities Fund, the Putnam Small Cap Growth Fund and the Putnam International Capital Opportunities Fund. Those funds will be managed with a reduced number of overall holdings to enhance opportunities for positive outperformance.