Product & Service Launches

StepStone Launches Total Portfolio Allocator

StepStone Group L.P. announced the launch of StepStone Total Portfolio Allocator, a modeling tool that provides financial professionals and plan sponsors with a way to view the impact of adding private assets to a public market portfolio.

The tool leverages SPI by StepStone, StepStone’s web-based platform and technology solutions suite for private market portfolios, which centralizes and analyzes private markets data from general partners, funds and underlying investments.

Total Portfolio Allocator users can begin with a public market risk profile, add private markets allocations across four asset classes and compare hypothetical returns, volatility and risk-return metrics with an equivalent public-markets-only portfolio. Users can also examine historical drawdowns and explore how modeled portfolios would have behaved through the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 and the 2022 interest-rate shock.

Schwab Asset Management Launches International Bond ETF

Schwab Asset Management, the asset management arm of the Charles Schwab Corp., launched the Schwab International Bond ETF, an exchange-traded fund designed to provide investors with access to the international investment-grade bond market. The ETF began trading on the NYSE Arca under ticker SCIN on October 21 and has an expense ratio of 0.06%.

According to the announcement, SCIN’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index comprising international non-U.S. dollar denominated investment-grade debt securities. The ETF invests in international developed and emerging markets and uses forward and future contracts to hedge foreign currency exposure back to the U.S. dollar.

SCIN offers exposure to a mix of international investment-grade bonds, including sovereign, quasi-government, corporate, securitized and collateralized securities across more than 40 countries. The fund’s largest country exposures are expected to be France, Germany, Japan, the U.K. and Italy.

Vanguard to Expand Target-Date Lineup with Target Retirement Growth Trusts

Vanguard announced the upcoming launch of the Vanguard Retirement Growth Trusts, a series of target-date collective investment trusts that maintain a higher exposure to equities than a traditional target-date fund.

The new series, built on the same foundation as Vanguard’s retirement funds and trusts, automatically adjusts its investment mix as investors approach retirement age. By keeping a higher exposure to equities across a participant’s glidepath, however, the CITs are intended for plans with participants whose needs, risk tolerances or retirement objectives may be better suited to take on additional equity risk.

Allspring Announces ETF Share Classes for 3 Mutual Funds

Allspring Global Investments launched exchange-traded fund share classes for three existing mutual funds, which began trading on October 21.

The share classes are:

• Allspring Short-Term High Income Fund-ETF Class, which seeks current income by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of non-investment-grade corporate debt securities with an average effective maturity or three years or less;
• Allspring Strategic Municipal Bond Fund-ETF Class, which pursues tax-free income by principally investing in a diversified portfolio of municipal securities, and;
• Allspring High-Yield Municipal Bond Fund-ETF Class, which seeks high current income and capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of municipal securities, most of which are rated triple-B or lower.

PlanSource Launches AI-Powered Benefits Assistant

PlanSource Benefits Administration Inc. launched Benefits Agent, an artificial-intelligence-powered assistant designed to help employees understand and manage workplace benefits. The tool can answer questions about benefits coverage and eligibility and assist with tasks such as updating coverage, uploading documentation and managing beneficiary information.

According to the company, the assistant uses employee-specific benefits information to provide guidance based on a worker’s coverage and circumstances. PlanSource intends the tool to be part of its broader effort to automate benefits administration processes for employees and human resources teams.