As You Sow, Proxy Impact Launch ESG Proxy Voting Service
As You Sow, a non-profit shareholder advocacy organization headquartered in Berkeley, Calif., has launched As You Vote in partnership with Richmond, Calif.-based Proxy Impact to enable all shareholders to vote their values.

As You Vote allows investors to vote their values easily, efficiently and economically on issues such as climate change, racial justice, ocean plastics, industrial farming and modern slavery. A portion of the fees charged for the service are donated to other non-profits working on shareholder voter education for impact investors.

The As You Vote slate is developed and maintained in partnership with Proxy Impact, a proxy voting firm founded on environmental, social and governance principles.

The new service is available on ProxyEdge, Broadridge’s institutional voting platform. The platform’s neutral, open architecture allows organizations to publish their voting policies, with 14 diverse third-party recommendation providers already available today, the company said.

LGBTQ Loyalty Announces May Launch Date Of ETF
LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings Inc., a West Hollywood, Calif.-based financial methodology and data company founded on diversity and inclusionary principles, will begin trading its previously announced LGBTQ+ ESG100 ETF on the Nasdaq beginning May 18. The fund will track the LGBTQ100 ESG Index.

The index identifies the top 100 corporations that most closely align with the LGBTQ community across America. It is reportedly also the first-ever index to incorporate LGBTQ community survey data into the methodology, generating a benchmark of the nation’s highest-performing companies that are most committed to advancing equality.

The ETF is being launched in partnership with ProcureAM LLC, an exchange-traded product issuer based in Levittown, Pa.

TFA Mutual Fund Family Now Open To Outside Investors
Tactical Fund Advisors, a Cincinnati-based investment advisor, is now offering the TFA family of mutual funds to outside investors.

TFA, fund advisor to the family of multi-manager and single-manager TFA funds, is affiliated with Horter Investment Management LLC, a financial services company also based in Cincinnati.

Previously, the TFA funds had primarily been used only by Horter clients, but the funds, distributed by Arbor Court Capital, are now available to investors nationwide through financial advisors, wealth managers and other intermediaries.

The family of TFA mutual funds includes five vehicles: Three multi-manager allocation funds were launched in June 2019, followed by two single-manager funds in May 2020. The funds share the goal of delivering consistent, long-term results while maintaining the ability to dynamically adapt to changing risk-reward environments.

The company said that unlike many mutual funds that are fully invested and do not go risk-off to cash or Treasurys, tactical funds are actively managed daily to shift asset allocations as market conditions change in order to reduce risk and achieve investment objectives.

Drew K. Horter founded Horter Investment Management in 1991 as a registered investment advisor. He is also founder of Tactical Fund Advisors LLC.

FPA Summer Virtual Externship To Return In 2021
The Financial Planning Association, headquartered in Denver, will once again host a summer FPA Virtual Externship in partnership with eMoney Advisor, a financial technology company in Conshohocken, Pa., and Kaplan, a global education services company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The immersive, virtual experience planned for the summer of 2021 will build on the program’s most successful qualities from last summer, as well as include new elements, such as recorded client meetings with advisor Hannah Moore, organizer of the program, that explore real-life financial planning issues.

Participants will get a “behind the curtain” view on how planners from different backgrounds do financial planning and enhance their knowledge and skills.

The eight-week program, to be held from June 7 through July 30, is $199 for FPA members and $249 for non-members. The non-member price also includes a one-year FPA Aspiring Financial Planner membership. And program applicants can apply for an FPA Virtual Externship Scholarship through their local FPA chapter.

Registration is now open until June 1 at www.FPAExternship.org.

American College Of Financial Services And Ed Slott Launch E-Learning IRA Program
The American College of Financial Services, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa., has launched IRA Success, a continuing education, self-study program delivered in partnership with Ed Slott and Company.

IRA Success covers the latest retirement distribution and tax planning laws and strategies under the SECURE Act and CARES Act. It combines the college’s e-learning design and delivery with the expertise of IRA expert and CPA Ed Slott, who recently joined the faculty of the college as a professor of practice.

The 12-course program covers a wide range of topics, from recognizing new backdoor Roth opportunities to identifying key beneficiary categories still eligible for stretch IRA provisions. Each course comes with a video presentation, resources to use with clients, and a digital course manual as an extensive reference tool.

IRA Success costs $195 per course or $2,100 for the entire program. To learn more, visit TheAmericanCollege.edu/IRASuccess.