Products October 15, 2015

Investment Product Launches for the Week

BlackRock launches impact equity funds, and Schwab reveals money market fund changes.
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BlackRock Launches Impact Equity Funds

BlackRock has launched the BlackRock Impact U.S. Equity Fund, a mutual fund that aims to invest in measurable social and environmental outcomes while seeking to generate competitive financial returns. The fund will trade under the ticker BIRAX.

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BlackRock says the fund strives to deliver transparent measurement and outcome reporting, allowing investors to better understand how their money is being put to work.

The fund arrives at a time when sustainable and impact investing strategies are attracting a significant amount of interest as well as assets from investors, BlackRock says, both on the individual and institutional sides of the investing markets.

The firm cites research from Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA), showing sustainable investment assets have expanded 61% between 2012 and 2014. “Within this, impact investing is the fastest growing segment, and the U.S. is the fastest growing area for impact investing, with 33% compound annual growth rate between 2012 and 2014,” BlackRock says. “GSIA defines impact investing as targeted investments aimed at solving social or environmental problems.”

With these trends in mind, the fund aims to deliver “a portfolio of equity securities of companies targeting competitive market returns and aggregate societal impact outcomes, as determined by BlackRock, relative to its benchmark.” The Fund is run by BlackRock’s Scientific Active Equity (SAE) team.

For more information, visit blackrockimpact.com.

NEXT: Schwab Reveals Money Market Fund Changes

Money Market Fund Changes Announced by Schwab

Charles Schwab Investment Management announced planned changes to its money market fund line-up.

To address new SEC regulations, all Schwab Prime and Municipal Money Market Funds plan to qualify as retail money market funds by October 14, 2016. As such, these funds will continue to seek to maintain a constant net asset value (NAV) of $1.00 per share, and will be subject to potential liquidity fees and redemption gates in times of extreme market volatility.

Additionally, three Schwab Money Market Fund share classes have been renamed to reflect that these funds plan to qualify as retail money market funds by October 14, 2016. The Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund – Institutional Shares becomes the Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund – Premier Shares; Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund – Institutional Prime Shares becomes Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund – Ultra Shares; and Schwab Municipal Money Fund – Institutional Shares becomes Schwab Municipal Money Fund – Premier Shares.

Moving forward, Schwab’s Government Money Funds and the Schwab Money Market Portfolio will be officially designated as government money market funds under the SEC’s new definition of such funds on April 14, 2016, and as a result, they will continue to seek to maintain a constant NAV of $1.00 per share. These funds have no plans to adopt a policy to implement liquidity fees or redemption gates at this time.

The changes were announced in a prospectus filed today and in a letter to clients/shareholders posted on the company’s website.

Break from the Grind October 15, 2015

A Little Friday File Fun

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In New York City, a woman sued her nephew—now 12 years old—for causing her to injure her wrist four years ago. According to the New York Daily News, the woman was invited to her nephew’s birthday party when he turned eight. When she arrived, he ran to her, yelling her name and saying he loved her, then jumped up, causing her to have to catch him. They both fell to the ground, and the aunt broke her wrist. In a lawsuit, the aunt says her life has been seriously affected—she has trouble walking up the steps to her Manhattan apartment and holding hors d’oeuvres plates at parties. She sought $127,000 in damages, but the court has ruled in the boy’s favor.

In Lakeland, Florida, a 23-year-old woman decided to broadcast herself driving into.xicated on Periscope, Twitter’s live video application. The video quickly spread online, the local CBS News station reports, and concerned viewers sent the woman text messages begging her to stop driving. The Lakeland, Florida, police were also contacted by a viewer who was able to identify a few landmarks near the woman. Police found her and she was arrested for D.UI.

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In Brahehus, Sweden, a person called police to report the sighting of a possible I.SIL group. Police responded to the scene and found 30 bearded men holding a flag—members of a beard club called the Bearded Villains.

In Bonn, Germany, a 43-year-old man entered a home with the intention of robbing it. He went into a storeroom, and the doors slammed shut behind him. There was no way to open it from the inside, The Local reports. The man finally called police, who rescued him before arresting him.

In Clay County, Kansas, a man was burning garbage in a field when he noticed that the fire was getting out of control. In an attempt to put the fire out, he drove his van back and forth over the flames. However, the tires of the van caught fire. That’s when it dawned on the man that since his van was loaded with firearms ammunition and had a full tank of gas, it may not be safe. According to the Kansas City Star, the man evacuated the area, and a Clay County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the scene after he saw smoke coming from the field while he was on a traffic stop. The deputy did not cite the man for anything.

You’ve heard of “Driving Miss Daisy”? Well, this is Daisy (a dog) driving a toddler around.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/y6kqilIvOY4

This little girl’s dive into the pool failed, but she ended up doing a cool move anyway.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/5h7piBg0gPE

These guys thought launching a wheel with an airbag would be cool, but soon realized they didn’t think it through.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/hfgxAL3t2Tw

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