Investment Product and Service Launches

Northern Trust And BlackRock Partner on Investment Services

Northern Trust has entered into an alliance with BlackRock to deliver operations, data and servicing capabilities to mutual clients.

The relationship with BlackRock currently supports mutual clients and is an extension of Northern Trust Whole Office, an approach that integrates Northern Trust’s global asset servicing platform with partners, facilitating client access to new technologies, services and solutions.

“Our Whole Office ecosystem delivers global asset owners and asset managers scale, efficiency, flexibility and optionality, ultimately enabling more informed investment decision making,” says Pete Cherecwich, president of Corporate & Institutional Services at Northern Trust. “We have a long-standing relationship with BlackRock and are excited to be working with them as part of our Whole Office strategy. The alliance connects Northern Trust’s fund accounting, fund administration, asset servicing and middle office capabilities to BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, creating greater connectivity between asset manager and asset servicer.” 

The alliance with BlackRock builds on a series of Northern Trust partnerships and strategic investments to provide solutions that span the investment lifecycle, including outsourced trade execution for asset managers and owners, a digital and service platform for global asset allocators, currency management and FX algorithmic trading, integration with industry trading platforms, collateral optimization, risk analytics and digital innovation for asset servicing.

Allianz Investment Management Launches New ETFs

Allianz Investment Management LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, has launched the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Apr ETF (NYSE Arca: AZAA) and the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Apr ETF (NYSE Arca: AZBA).

“Our ETF [exchange-traded fund] offerings seek to provide a clearer path of return expectations by providing a level of downside protection over a defined time period,” says Brian Muench, president of AllianzIM. “The ability to remain invested in broad based equities while reducing downside risk in an ETF vehicle is creating strong interest from financial professionals.”

Now offering lower-cost buffered outcome ETFs, the AllianzIM ETFs seek to match the returns of the S&P 500 Price Return Index up to a stated cap, while providing downside protection (through the buffer) against the first 10% and 20% of S&P 500 Price Return Index losses for AZAA and AZBA, respectively. 

AllianzIM’s Buffered Outcome ETFs are offered at an expense ratio of 74 basis points, with portfolio management conducted in-house by AllianzIM. The initial outcome period of the ETFs will be June 1 to March 31, 2021; thereafter, subsequent outcome periods are expected to be 12-months with each outcome period reflecting a new stated cap commensurate with prevailing market conditions, allowing investors to remain invested with downside protection. 

Hand Adds Tickers to CITs

Hand Benefits & Trust Co. has gone live with more than 30 collective investment trust (CIT) tickers and associated CUSIP numbers via the Nasdaq Fund Network.

David Hand, CEO of Hand Benefits & Trust, tells PLANSPONSOR that his firm is excited and optimistic about ongoing growth in the CIT space. He says he expects the expanding use of tickers and CUSIPs for CITs will help to dispel some of the myths that have held back growth in the efficient and cost-effective investment vehicle.

With the new Hand Benefits & Trust Co. CIT tickers, there are now more than 350 CIT tickers on the Nasdaq Fund Network. The 31 newest cover 22 different funds operated by 11 asset managers. These managers are BlackRock, ClearBridge, Western Asset Management, QS Investors, Brandywine Global Investment Management, Royce Investment Partners, Jensen Investment, DSM Capital Partners, Decatur Capital, Snyder Capital and Disciplined Growth Investors.