BlackRock Adds To iBonds Lineup
BlackRock has added to its lineup of iBonds, announcing the launch of the iShares iBonds 2026 Term High Yield and Income ETF (IBHF). The fund, available on NYSE Arca, seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. dollar-denominated, high-yield and other income-generating corporate bonds maturing between January 1, 2026 and December 15, 2026.
iBonds ETFs seek to provide a yield-to-maturity profile comparable to that of the underlying bond portfolio. The funds seek to preserve an investor’s anticipated yield-to-maturity through a combination of monthly distributions and a final end-date distribution. Like individual bonds, the funds have a duration that will decline over time as they near maturity. iBonds ETFs offer potential benefits to investors of diversification, exchange tradability and a final maturity date.
Beacon Launches Annuity Purchase Solution
Beacon Annuity Solutions, a computer software developer headquartered in Northfield, Ill., has introduced the Annuity Switchboard, a cloud-based annuity compliance and pre-sale solution for carriers and their distribution partners.
Annuity Switchboard provides secure, real-time access to carrier information for thousands of fixed, fixed-index, indexed variable and variable annuity products along with more than 10,000 rates. Custom application programming interfaces (APIs) deliver a seamless integration into bank and broker-dealer compliance systems, as well as carrier back offices.
In addition to supporting annuity sales and distribution, Annuity Switchboard provides other benefits to carriers. The easy-to-use interface allows the annuity provider to control and understand how their products are being used across their own distribution ecosystem.
Magnifi Adds Fi360 Fiduciary Score To Platform
Magnifi, a TIFIN Group company headquartered in Boulder, Colo., and Fi360, a Pittsburgh-based Broadridge company specializing in fiduciary education and technology, have partnered to integrate the Fi360 score into Magnifi’s powerful semantic searching and screening platform.
Magnifi’s Discovery, Selector and Enhancer tools will now incorporate Fi360 scores to find and recommend best-fit products, in compliance with Reg BI requirements, as part of client and retirement plan management workflows.
The integration gives advisors the ability to discover and use investment products, while staying within the guardrails of fiduciary risk.
Holistiplan Partners With Redtail To Streamline Tax Return Analysis
Holistiplan, a College Station, Texas-based tax planning software designed for financial advisors, has partnered with Redtail Technology to simplify tax return analysis.
The new integration enables financial advisors to send household information to Holistiplan to avoid dual data entry. Information, such as household members and birth dates, can be imported to Holistiplan for analysis.