Luma, Yieldstreet Expand Alts Partnership
Cincinnati-based structured products and annuities platform Luma Financial Technologies has expanded its relationship with Yieldstreet, a leading private market investment platform, to offer alternative investment products to Luma’s advisors.
Advisors can go on the platform and select from New York-based Yieldstreet’s lineup of 12 alternative products for client portfolios. They can also select a theme, and the system will guide them to products that fit it. And they can access model portfolios available on Yieldstreet’s platform.
For Luma’s advisors it means greater access to alternatives, along with easier access to those products, education about them and ongoing management.
Tema Launches Third Medical-Themed ETF
New York-based Tema ETFs has introduced its third actively managed ETF with a medical bent, the Tema Neuroscience and Mental Health ETF (MNTL). The new fund invests in companies working on treatments for people with neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders.
The ETF invests in 35 to 48 firms, the core of which are small- to mid-cap biotech firms. It also takes defensive positions in larger-cap biopharma names and in medical device companies and service providers, according to the firm.
The ETF has an expense ratio of 75 basis points, and is available on most major platforms, Tema said. The fund is managed by David Song, who is not only a medical doctor, but an investment partner at the firm.
CogniCor, Microsoft Launch Digital Assistants For Advisors
Tech firm CogniCor and Microsoft have joined forces to create a series of digital assistants for the wealth management and insurance industries. The new AI-powered tools help advisors tackle a variety of administrative tasks, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based CogniCor said.
The digital assistants aid advisors with client meetings, scheduling, agenda creation, recording, note-taking, and the creation of action items that stem from the meetings.
Advisors can access the tools on CogniCor’s website. The firm offers three modules that serve home offices, advisors and investors.
The service’s cost depends on the firm’s size and ranges between $100 and $150 per month per user. The more advisors at a firm, the lower the price in that range.
AssetMark Introduces Tax Management Tool To Help Advisors
AssetMark, a wealth management platform, has introduced Tax Management Services, an enhanced tool that provides advisors with several services, including tax transition, tax-efficient rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting and client-directed activity. The tool can help blunt the impact of capital gains taxes on clients’ performance and investing outcomes.
The platform lets advisors personalize plans to each client’s unique needs, including tax sensitivities, risk tolerance, realized capital gains budget and investment preferences.
The firm designed the system to be customized for each individual investor according to their investment goals and income level. The system produces quarterly reports the advisor can use to demonstrate the tax advantages they are providing for their clients.
LPL Gives Advisors Tools To Be Financial Literacy Instructors
LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer by gross revenue, according to Financial Advisor magazine’s annual ranking, has unveiled a new education program that its advisors can use to improve the financial literacy of their clients and members of their community. The World of Business Reading Group (WBRG) is a six-week program. It was inspired by the letters Warren Buffett writes to shareholders.
The curriculum was developed in courses with high school students over the last four years by the World of Business Reading Group, which LPL says is a project of Collaborative Gain, a community of digital business leaders.
Under LPL’s license, advisors will have the opportunity to directly offer the program to their communities. The course covers ethics, finance and operating earnings, business leadership and decision-making, what makes a good company, how markets operate and the power of compounding.
LPL will provide advisors, free of charge, access to the materials to conduct the course. It will include a syllabus, reading materials, a list of questions along with answers, and instructional videos on how to conduct each lesson.
Morningstar Partners With iCapital For Alternatives
Chicago-based fund data provider Morningstar has partnered with alternative investments platform iCapital to give advisors on its Morningstar Advisor Workstation access to iCapital’s alternative assets and analytics platform.
Advisors will have access to research on private equity and debt, venture capital, real estate and hedge funds. iCapital’s platform gives advisors direct access to educational materials and research, as well as due diligence, so advisors can include alts in model portfolios and proposals.
Morningstar’s platform is known for allowing advisors to research and analyze investments and build investment proposals for clients. Before, advisors who wanted alts had to go outside Morningstar’s platform to some other offering.
Having the investments side-by-side on the platform lets clients see alternatives on equal footing with traditional investments and as part of the core portfolio.