PriceMetrix Upgrades Advisor Software
For advisors, keeping up with the Joneses just got a little easier.

Toronto-based PriceMetrix rolled out the newest version of its ValueOne turnkey practice intelligence software.

ValueOne 3.0 operates on financial advisors’ desktops and offers them real-time data to compare their performance against other advisors’ with more than 250 metrics, including client retention, the amount of fee business, total client numbers and pricing.

The new version upgrades the software’s interface and expands access to industry data encompassing the practices of over 40,000 financial advisors. Users can compare their practices to those of peers, to others at their own firms and to those across the industry, identifying opportunities and charting their own best paths.

ValueOne allows advisors insight and context with which they may be able to create a strategy to grow their business and optimize their books.

Within the software, advisors can drill down to compare themselves with peers with similar practices, to view metrics across various client segments or to access a specific client relationship.

For instance, an advisor with a large total AUM might be experiencing slower growth than other similarly sized practices. Using ValueOne, the advisors might learn that they have lower levels of client retention than their peers. Others might discover that their pricing is high or low relative to other advisors with similar clientele and levels of service.

PriceMetrix directly measures data representing 10 million investors, $4 trillion in investable assets, 500 million transactions and 2.5 million fee-based accounts.


Sterling Creates Diversified Income Fund
Charlotte, N.C.-based Sterling Capital Funds has announced the launch of the Sterling Capital Diversified Income Fund.

The fund focuses on income and capital appreciation by allocating across income-generating asset classes and strategies to allow investors to achieve income and diversification in one fund rather than allocating to multiple investments.

Managed by Shane Burke and Will Gholston, the fund includes non-traditional investments like insurance-linked securities and option strategies and uses a blend of active and passive management.

The fund uses an open architecture approach enabling portfolio managers to pinpoint seasoned management teams across asset classes.


HSBC Launches International Bond Funds
London-based HSBC Global Asset Management has launched two fixed-income funds: the Global High Income Bond Fund and the Global High Yield Bond Fund.

The funds use a regional “sleeve” structure, which provides access to local research and trading expertise, leveraging HSBC’s global network of offices.

The Global High Income Bond Fund creates a regular income stream for investors, while the Global High Yield Bond Fund contains securities less sensitive to interest rate fluctuations with a capacity to provide equity-like returns with potentially less volatility.

Both funds aim to find relative value opportunities in domestic and international corporate bonds with asset allocations spanning the U.S., Europe and emerging markets.  


WisdomTree Rolls Out Currency-Hedged ETFs
New York-based WisdomTree has launched the new WisdomTree International Hedged Equity Fund ETF under the ticker HDWM.

The fund seeks to track the WisdomTree International Hedged Equity Index, providing exposure to dividend-paying companies in the developed world, excluding the U.S. and Canada, while hedging exposure to fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies.

At a time when the U.S. is aiming to raise interest rates while other countries are easing their monetary policies, WisdomTree believes more investors are seeking a currency-hedged play in the developed international arena.

The index currently holds 746 stocks; banks top the list with a 13.5% allocation, followed by energy at 9.1% and pharmaceuticals, biotech and life sciences at 8.26%.


BMO Offers Advisors Mobile Fund Application
Chicago-based BMO Global Asset Management has unveiled a new iPad application designed to help advisors share resources and track performance.

Available in the U.S. for free through the iTunes store, the BMO Global Asset Management app allows users to follow the performance of their selected funds and share fact sheets and white papers with colleagues and clients.

The app also provides customizable file storage and includes a virtual briefcase feature that allows users to store their fund-related documents.

The app follows the introduction of BMO’s Viewpoints website, which features audio and video commentary from BMO leadership, experts, portfolio managers and market strategists.


Northern Trust Introduces Bond Index ETF
Chicago-based Northern Trust has introduced the FlexShares Credit-Scored U.S. Long Corporate Bond Index Fund, a fixed-income portfolio made up of corporate debt securities selected using the firm’s proprietary credit evaluation process.

The fund contains securities featuring a maturity of 10 or more years, and excludes illiquid and smaller issuers for improved liquidity and transparency.

The company uses a strategy based on the Northern Trust Credit-Scored U.S. Long Corporate Bond Index, designed to measure the performance of a diversified selection of longer-term maturity, U.S. dollar-denominated bonds of companies with investment-grade credit quality and long-term solvency.