Investment Products and Service Launches

Art by Jackson Epstein

Hartford Funds Presents Interval Fund

Hartford Funds has launched its first closed-end interval fund, the Hartford Schroders Opportunistic Income Fund.

Sub-advised by Schroder Investment Management North America Inc., the fund seeks to provide current income and long-term total return by investing in U.S. and foreign fixed and floating rate securitized credit instruments and various types of loan investments.  

The fund will invest in a variety of securitized instruments and other fixed-income investments, mortgage-related investments, private commercial real estate loans, cash and short-term equivalents, treasuries and derivatives.

Michelle Russell-Dowe, head of securitized credit at Schroders, will serve with Anthony Breaks as the fund’s portfolio managers.

“The Hartford Schroders Opportunistic Income Fund allows us to leverage the closed-end interval fund structure and give investors access to the full capabilities of the Schroders securitized platform,” says Russell-Dowe. “The fund uses liquid markets and private credit to offer a potential solution designed to fit today’s credit cycle, today’s crowded markets, and today’s volatility. The fund represents an opportunity to benefit from a broad investment universe by allowing us to deploy capital into the best opportunity, be it in the public markets or in the private markets.”

OpenInvest Partners with LGIMA for ESG Solutions

OpenInvest and Legal & General Investment Management America (LGIMA) are partnering to deliver index solutions that allow clients to target their desired financial objectives while incorporating environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria on a fully customized basis.

Under an agreement, LGIMA will use OpenInvest’s dynamic custom indexing (DCI) technology system to provide institutional clients with the ability to execute disciplined portfolios that utilize market and ESG data. Pensions, corporations and foundations that use the solution will be able to track market benchmarks and incorporate proprietary environmental and social data.

“Legal & General can use our dynamic custom indexing capabilities to help the world’s largest asset owners align their institutional funds with their missions and stakeholders,” says Joshua Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer, OpenInvest. “We’re seeing a new technology horizon, where investing expertise melds with automated mass customization around ESG investing. We are thrilled to work with LGIMA to deliver customized, values-based investments to their institutional clients.”  

ProShares Releases Additional ETFs in Dividend Growth Suite

ProShares has added two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to its dividend growth suite, one focusing on U.S. technology and the other on the Russell 3000, which represents the total U.S. market. 

 “Consistent dividend growth may be one of the best indicators of a company’s health,” says Michael Sapir, co-founder and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC. “We are committed to offering this powerful strategy across a broad array of market caps, geographies and sectors.”

The ProShares S&P Technology Dividend Aristocrats ETF will focus on U.S. technology dividend growers, according to ProShares, that have raised dividends for a minimum of seven consecutive years. ProShares Russell U.S. Dividend Growers ETF will include large-, mid- and small-cap U.S. companies. The fund follows the Russell 3000 Dividend Elite Index.

ProShares Dividend Growers ETFs focus on the companies with the longest track records of dividend growth in some of the most widely tracked U.S. and international indexes. All of these ETFs are listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange.

Fidelity Introduces Thematic Investing Funds

Fidelity Investments has launched four new thematic investment products: Fidelity Enduring Opportunities Fund (FEOPX), Fidelity Infrastructure Fund (FNSTX), Fidelity U.S. Low Volatility Equity Fund (FULVX), and Fidelity Stocks for Inflation ETF (FCPI).

Thematic investing allows investors to pursue market exposure to specific ideas or values. Investors can use thematic investing as a way of expressing a view on the market that is different from region, sector, style, or market capitalization exposure. Through research and analysis, Fidelity has identified five categories of thematic investing: disruption; megatrends; environmental, social and governance (ESG); outcome oriented, and differentiated insights.

The four new investment products are available to individual investors and through workplace retirement plans. In addition, Fidelity Stocks for Inflation Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) will be available through third-party financial advisers. The mutual funds have no investment minimums, while the ETF has an investment minimum of one share.