Latest: MerQube gets further support from market players, JPM deploys new underlying

MerQube, which offers technology for indexing and rules-based investing, has raised US$8m in funding. Laurion Capital Management served as the lead backer, with commitments also coming from Citi, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS - this round follows the US$5 million Series A led by J.P. Morgan in October 2021. 

The funds will enable MerQube to “keep developing our platform in order to deliver the scale and answer our clients' growing and evolving needs, to attract talent, and to expand our business in key markets,” Vinit Srivastava (pictured), CEO at MerQube, told SRP.

Generating income with protection has become top of mind across regions, particularly in Europe - Vinit Srivastava, MerQube

“We are working on customised equities, and on multi/single asset class real time strategies in the area of derivatives - across asset classes like equities, fixed income, FX, volatility, commodities, etc.,” he said.

Srivastava expects MerQube’s clients to look for protection and income with particular focus on costs.

“With the uncertain outlook on growth and with inflation which is particularly high, generating income with protection has become top of mind across regions, particularly in Europe,” said Srivastava.

“This market outlook actually plays well with the strengths that MerQube brings to the table. The support we are receiving during these times of market uncertainty is testament to the value we bring to our clients with our unique technology.”

‘We believe that the indexing business is set to further expand as the exceptional growth of passive investing continues,’ said Emmanuel Naim, head of derivatives at Laurion Capital Management and former J.P. Morgan executive.

Rui Fernandes (right), head of global equities structuring and co-head of global investor structuring at J.P. Morgan and Oliver Taylor, head of Americas equities trading at Citi, said the further round of investment and collaboration with MerQube affirms the bank’s commitment to technology as a way to provide solutions that meet investor needs for sophisticated index-based strategies.

Newest US FIA offers exposure to J.P. Morgan factor prop play

National Western Life Insurance Company has released the NWL New Frontiers, the latest addition to its indexed annuity catalogue.

The new fixed indexed annuity (FIA) offers exclusive access to the J.P. Morgan Factor Focus index with one-, two-, and six-year investment terms. Investors in the six-year option can choose the J.P. Morgan Factor Focus Six Year Strategy, which includes a lock-in index value option.

The J.P. Morgan Factor Focus index which is calculated on an excess return basis provides a dynamic rules-based allocation to an equity constituent (the J.P. Morgan U.S. Minimum Volatility ETF), which seeks to provide exposure to large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks exhibiting relatively lower price volatility; and a bond component (the J.P. Morgan Core Bond Index) offering dynamic allocation to the U.S. dollar fixed income market, with a volatility target level of 5%.

The index is subject to a daily deduction of a 0.50% per annum index fee and a notional financing cost based on three-month cash rates. The index was established on 18 March 2021.

Romania’s BRK Financial enters Austrian listed market

SSIF BRK Financial Group has debuted on the Vienna Stock Exchange today (22 August) with a range of structured certificates.

The new range of 70 turbo certificates which is available in the ‘structured products’ segment on the VSE include long and short structures linked to market cap indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gold, petrol, as well as copper and silver futures.

The company is part of the BRK Financial Group (BRK), a trading member of the Vienna exchange, is one of the largest Romanian brokers and one of the founding members of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

‘[This is] the first step in our project for the regional expansion of our certificates business,’ said Monica Ivan (right), CEO of BRK Financial Group.

There are more than 20,000 debt instruments currently listed on the VSE including 9,000 structured products from five issuers - Raiffeisen Centrobank AG, Erste Group Bank AG, UBS AG, Intesa Sanpaolo and now BRK Financial Group.

UK products deliver positive returns amid Q2 volatile market

The 210 structured plans maturing in Q2 2022 in the UK market have all but one delivered capital gains to investors. Collectively, the maturing plans realised an average annualised return of 6.5%, over an average investment term of 3.2 years, according to Lowes Financial Management.

The 32 Lowes ‘preferred' plans matured in Q2, returned an average annualised return of 8.16% across an average annualised return of 3.57 years - outperforming the sector average by 1.64%, and the Q1 ‘preferred' average by 0.2%.

The one maturing plan that failed to achieve a positive return, Investec EVEN 30 Deposit Growth Plan 56, was linked to the performance of the Even 30 index. This index comprises the 30 least volatile listings on the FTSE 100 index on an equally weighted basis, with no pre-determined bias to any company or sector.

The averaging over the final six months of the plan equated to the index being 5.04% down over the term, meaning that investors original capital was returned in full but with no further interest payment.

Of the ten best performing plans of the period, five were 10:10 plans, earning an average annualised return of 11.4% over an average term of two years.

According to Lowes, no maturity in Q2 resulted in a capital loss for investors.

Bancolombia launches Miami RIA and offshore brokerage operations

Colombian group Bancolombia has announced that its offshore brokerage and registered investment adviser (RIA) have started operations in Miami, Florida.

The firm previously revealed in September last year it was planning on opening its affiliates Bancolombia Capital and Bancolombia Capital Advisers a ‘milestone in its international strategy’.

‘Through our operations in the United States, based in the city of Miami, Grupo Bancolombia's clients of these entities will be able to access the products and services that Bancolombia Capital will offer,’ the group said in a statement released August 10.

Bancolombia’s two Miami-based affiliates will provide the group’s offshore clients with a range of products and services, including custom portfolio management including automatic portfolios according to the client's risk profile, access to international fixed income and equity investments, mutual funds, as well as structured notes and alternative assets.

In addition, the firm’s clients will be able to access leverage services for their investment portfolios, among other transactional services.

Bancolombia received authorization from US regulators to operate as a stockbroker and as an investment adviser last May.

The group’s Miami operation is led by Juan Felipe Giraldo (above-right), who was the president of Valores Bancolombia and has almost 23 years’ experience at the firm.