Compliance September 22, 2016

DOL Awards Research Grants for Exploring Portable Retirement Savings

The grant program seeks to assist those workers who have traditionally lacked access to an employer-provided retirement benefits program or are otherwise less likely to have income from pensions or assets.
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has awarded a total of $153,836 in grants to organizations to support the planning and research of portable retirement benefit plans for low-wage workers.

Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau, the awards are funded by the Portable Retirement Benefits Planning grant program. As previously announced, the program’s ultimate goal is to assist those workers—particularly women and others in low-wage occupations—who lack access to an employer-provided retirement benefits program and are less likely to have pension or asset-related income.

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The Brazilian Worker Center, Inc. in Allston, Massachusetts, will receive $25,000 to conduct research to inform the development of a prototype mobile platform to provide benefits, including retirement benefits, to predominantly low-wage, non-benefited domestic- and direct-care workers.

The Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights in Chicago will receive $75,000 to conduct a needs assessment of Illinois’ economically vulnerable, low-wage, and underserved workers without access to an employer-provided retirement savings plan. The organization will also conduct research to identify barriers to participation in the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program faced by low-wage workers and underserved workers.

The Fair Work Center in Seattle will receive $53,836 to conduct a needs assessment among low-wage workers, employers and benefits providers to understand the challenges and barriers low-wage workers currently face  in saving for retirement.

“Ensuring economic security for America’s workers, especially women and low-wage workers, is our mission at the U.S. Labor Department,” says Women’s Bureau Director Latifa Lyles. “Today’s announcement is another step toward our goal of supporting innovation in bringing retirement security to America’s lowest-paid workers.”
Products September 22, 2016

Elkhorn Investments Rolls Out Commodity ETF

"We believe commodities can be a powerful inflation hedge and diversifier," says Rob Arnott, with Research Affiliates.
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Elkhorn Investments has launched the Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy exchange-traded fund (ETF), which it describes as the first ETF based on Research Affiliates’ fundamental research.

“Commodities are a forgotten asset class in today’s market,” says Ben Fulton, founder and CEO of Elkhorn. “As a result, product innovation has lagged that of other asset classes for the better part of a decade. Together with Research Affiliates, we are excited to create a better way for investors to access the broader commodity market in an ETF without a K-1 tax form.”

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The Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF is an actively-managed ETF that seeks to provide investment returns that are highly correlated to the Dow Jones RAFI Commodity Index by investing in exchange-traded commodity futures contracts and other commodity-linked instruments, the firm explains. The Dow Jones RAFI Commodity Index offers an alternative beta strategy that uses price momentum and roll yield to outperform the broad market. The ETF is designed to be a fundamental factor-weighted, broad-market commodity strategy with a modified dynamic roll.

The fund’s assets will also be invested in a short duration portfolio of highly-liquid, high-quality bonds to collateralize exposure and target a total return which exceeds that of the Dow Jones RAFI Commodity Index, according to Elkhorn Investments.

Rob Arnott, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Research Affiliates says, “Much is made of smart beta strategies within equities and increasingly bonds. The need for smart beta strategies within broad commodities, however, has largely been overlooked. We believe commodities can be a powerful inflation hedge and diversifier. Commodities can also offer excellent long-term return potential, especially from current levels, especially if the index rebalances against fads and bubbles.”

The Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF is one of two actively-managed, commodity-based ETFs that the company recently launched. The second is the Elkhorn Commodity Rotation Strategy ETF. The firm’s ETF lineup also includes the Elkhorn S&P High Quality Preferred ETF. 

More information about the Elkhorn Fundamental Commodity Strategy ETF can be found online here.

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