This week’s latest roundup features the launch of three platforms involving structured notes and actively managed certificates (AMCs), as well as new ETN launches.
Goldman Sachs Advisor Solutions (GSAS) has unveiled a lending feature that is designed to enable eligible clients of registered investment advisors (RIAs) to borrow against specific types of alternative investment positions currently available through Goldman Sachs Bank USA in their portfolio.
Complex financial situations require solutions which empower RIAs with choice and greater flexibility in managing the assets and debits in their clients' portfolio - Jeremy Eisenstein, GSAS
The custodian can “provide lendable value against certain GS-issued structured notes as determined during the underwriting process”, a spokesperson at the US banking group told SRP.
Over the next two years, RIAs plan to expand their alternative investments allocation by 31.1%, reflecting the largest allocation increase to any investment vehicle, according to GSAS. Custodians traditionally offered lending only against publicly marketable securities. The new liquidity management tool demonstrates GS’ commitment to its One GS RIA Strategy, announced last September, led by Adam Siegler (pictured).
‘Complex financial situations require solutions which empower RIAs with choice and greater flexibility in managing the assets and debits in their clients' portfolios,’ said Jeremy Eisenstein, managing director at GSAS.
MassMutual and iCapital unveil platform for structured notes and more
Financial advisors affiliated with MML Investors Services, an independent broker/dealer and investment adviser subsidiary of MassMutual, now have access to a customised platform offered by iCapital, with a goal to ‘deliver streamlined access and analytics’ for alternative investments, annuities and structured investments.
Through the relationship, advisors have had access to institutional-quality alternative investment solutions. They have also had access to iCapital Marketplace, a platform offering alternative investment funds, due diligence and education resources.
With the expansion of the relationship, advisors gain access to structured investments and annuities via ‘single sign on’ capabilities, making it easier to analyse and manage their full book of business. The iCapital lifecycle management tool for structured and variable annuities is also available to give insight into an entire lifecycle of brokerage and fee-based annuities in one centralized location and to offer reallocation options.
Alternatives and other sophisticated investments are increasingly in demand. ‘Having alternative products on one fully integrated platform, accompanied by the ability to drill down and understand different client exposures, is critically important to better enable advisors to deliver quality outcomes,’ said Vaughn Bowman (right), head of wealth management with MassMutual.
GenTwo releases first Swiss-based B2B AMC platform
Founded in 2018, the Swiss fintech company has rolled out GenTwo Pro for Banks, the first Swiss-based B2B actively managed certificate (AMC) issuance platform for banks.
With the tool, GenTwo’s banking clients can create unlimited bankable products on all liquid or digital assets, linking directly to their custody and trading services.
The products are fully segregated and off-balance sheet, and the platform offers users a choice of multiple issuance locations, including Switzerland. It also features the fastest time to market at the lowest price point currently available in the industry, according to the provider headed by Philippe A. Naegeli (right), co-founder and CEO of GenTwo.
South Africa's FNB launches Nvidia ETN
First National Bank (FNB) has expanded its exchange-traded note (ETN) offering, adding underlying assets including Nvidia, FNB Booking & Holding, Eli Lily and Palo Alto Networks. That adds up to eight new ETNs, bringing its total ETN offering to 50, with an objective of giving South African investors easy access to leading international companies.
‘Because investors don’t directly own the underlying shares, these innovative investment solutions allow them to easily diversify into global markets without having to comply with onerous exchange control regulations,’ said Sebastian Pillay (right), head of share investing at FNB.
Each of the new ETNs is tailored to investor preference regarding currency exposure, which requires a minimum investment of R10 and no minimum fees or charges.
The commercial banking arm of FirstRand Bank is also pitching two structured note offerings, one of which is issued by UBS with reference asset of a Bloomberg luxury goods-themed decrement index, as SRP reported.
New 5x leverage ETNs launched in Germany
Six new exchange-traded notes issued by WisdomTree have been listed and are available for trading on Xetra and Börse Frankfurt.
The WisdomTree Qs100 5x ETN offers a leveraged investment in the nearest quarter E-mini-Nasdaq 100 futures contract. Investors can choose to participate in the five-times leveraged rising or falling price development of the daily performance of the underlying US Technology Rolling Futures Index.
The WisdomTree S&P 500 5x ETN tracks the daily performance of the S&P 500 Futures Index (0930-1600 ET) with five times leverage. It consists of a quarterly e-mini futures contract on the S&P 500, that trades between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EST. Investors can choose between rising and falling price movements.
With the WisdomTree Eurostoxx 50 5x ETN, investors can participate in the daily performance of the Eurostoxx 50 Index with a leverage of five and choose between rising and falling price performance.
The six WisdomTree ETNs are debt securities that track the performance of a benchmark index and are fully collateralised.
The product offering in Deutsche Börse's XTF segment currently comprises a total of 2,157 ETFs, 191 ETCs and 245 ETNs.
HK introduces swap connect enhancement
One year after the debut of the interest rate swap markets (Swap Connect) between China and Hong Kong SAR, several enhancements on the governmental mutual programme have been announced to ‘advance high-quality opening-up of China’s financial markets’, according to a joint statement from the People’s Bank of China, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
First, to enrich the product types, interest rate swap contracts with payment cycles based on the International Monetary Market dates will be accepted for clearing. Second, compression service and the clearing of backdated swap contracts as the associated supporting arrangement will be introduced to facilitate participating institutions to manage the notional amount outstanding, lower capital costs, and foster active trading.
In addition, the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (National Interbank Funding Center), the Shanghai Clearing House, and OTC Clearing Hong Kong Ltd will roll out other system enhancements and incentive programmes simultaneously to reduce the participation costs of Chinese and overseas investors.
As of 30 April 2024, 20 Chinese dealers and 58 overseas investors had conducted more than 3,600 interest rate swap transactions with an aggregate notional amount of approximately CNY1.77 trillion (US$226.6 billion), representing an average daily turnover of CNY7.6 billion or thereabouts in notional amount.
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