Products & Services June 6, 2025

Product and Service Launches – 6/6/25

TIFIN integrates with HUB for participation engagement; Income Lab launches Social Security tool; Fidelity introduces Managed Futures ETF; and more.

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TIFIN Integrates Product With Hub International to Increase Participant Engagement

TIFIN, a financial services company, has integrated its TIFIN@Work product to Hub FinPath, a wellness platform from Hub International, an insurance brokerage firm. The integration is expected to increase participant engagement in the retirement plans, which encompass more than 9,400 retirement plans with $178 billion in assets.

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As part of the integration, Hub will leverage TIFIN@Work to deliver AI-powered financial guidance to plan participants; route participants to financial coaches or other offerings; and drive personalized insights.

Income Lab Launches Social Security Optimization Tool

Income Lab, a retirement planning program, launched a Social Security optimization tool to offer financial advisers personalized strategies for clients to determine when to claim benefits. The product intends to create strategies based on certain circumstances such as mortality risk, early retirement and potential benefit reductions.

The tool provides guidance by accounting for several lifespan outcomes, including early mortality, and plans for the currently projected Social Security benefit cuts expected by 2033.

Fidelity Launches Managed Futures ETF to Expand Liquid Alternatives Offering

Fidelity Investments launched the Fidelity Managed Futures exchange-traded fund, a new liquid alternative fund designed to capitalize on market trends using a long-short investment strategy. The fund will trade on the Nasdaq stock market and is available commission-free to individual investors and financial advisers through Fidelity’s online platforms.

With this addition, Fidelity’s ETF platform now includes 79 ETFs and ETPs totaling $111 billion in assets under management. The ETF carries an estimated gross expense ratio of 0.83% and a net expense ratio of 0.80%.

STOXX, Intercontinental Exchange, Launch Suite of Fixed-Income Indices

STOXX and the Intercontinental Exchange launched a suite of fixed-income climate indices. STOXX, like PLANSPONSOR, is owned by ISS STOXX. The Intercontinental Exchange will provide pricing, reference data and index calculations, while STOXX will use its proprietary sustainability data.

Products & Services June 6, 2025

Franklin Templeton to Acquire Private Credit Manager Apera

Apera will join Franklin Templeton’s other private credit subsidiaries, which include New York-based Benefit Street Partners and London-based Alcentra, which Franklin Templeton acquired in 2018 and 2022, respectively.

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Franklin Templeton announced Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Apera Asset Management LLP, a U.K.-based lower-middle market private credit manager.

The acquisition will expand Franklin Templeton’s alternatives platform and its direct lending capabilities in the European lower-middle market, specifically targeting Western Europe, according to a statement from Franklin Templeton.

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Apera will join Franklin Templeton’s other private credit subsidiaries, which include New York-based Benefit Street Partners and London-based Alcentra, which Franklin Templeton acquired in 2018 and 2022, respectively.

According to Franklin Templeton, the European lower-middle market is a segment underserved relative to the broader private credit landscape. Alcentra, which has a large European credit focus, primarily services middle market firms in northern Europe, according to its website.

“Apera is a strong strategic fit for our platform,” said David Manlowe, the CEO of Benefit Street Partners, in a statement. “Their focus on the European lower middle market adds a new dimension to our global private credit capabilities. It’s a segment distinct from those served by BSP and Alcentra, and one where Apera’s local expertise and disciplined underwriting approach provide access to attractive, risk-adjusted returns.”

The acquisition, expected to close in the year’s third quarter, pending regulatory approvals, would increase Franklin Templeton’s alternative credit assets under management to $87 billion and alternative asset AUM to $260 billion. Franklin Templeton did not disclose the acquisition price. 

Based in London, Apera has deployed 4 billion euros ($4.56 billion) across more than 75 transactions since being founded in 2016, according to the firm’s website. The firm manages 5 billion euros in assets, according to a statement from Franklin Templeton.

Asset managers looking to bolster their offerings in the asset class are increasingly turning to acquisitions of private credit firms. In December 2024, BlackRock announced that it would acquire HPS Investment Partners, a credit manager with $148 billion in AUM, for $12 billion. That transaction is expected to close in the middle of this year.

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