Products April 3, 2007

Securian Offers Managed Account Using ETFs

Securian Financial Services has unveiled a managed account product that uses exchange-traded fund (ETF) index investments along with strategic and tactical asset allocations.
Reported by

A Securian news release about its Securian Signal product said the portfolios will be managed by XTF Advisors, which uses a tactical asset allocation model that monitors the economy and the markets. When economic signals are right, the model makes investment adjustments. It does not change the types of investments in a portfolio, only the percentage of the portfolio invested in a particular asset class, the announcement said.

XTF Advisors can over- or under-weight specific asset classes depending upon changing market conditions. If the model indicates that equity markets are strong, more money will be shifted into equities. If equities look weak, more money will be shifted into fixed income, the news release explained.

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“Securian Signal allows our advisers to meet client needs in a particularly vigorous way. Integrating asset allocation, ETF investing, and behavioral finance, Securian Signal allows clients to look to the long term while also having a built-in tactical decision process,” said George Connolly, president and CEO, Securian Financial Services. “It brings new direction and precision to the traditional investment account.”

Products April 3, 2007

XShares Adds Health Care ETFs

XShares Advisors LLC announced that two more of its HealthShares ETFs began trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Reported by

According to a news release, this brings the total number of publicly traded HealthShares ETFs offered by XShares Advisors, a New York financial services company focused on the development and distribution of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), to 16. In mid-March the company added nine HealthShares to its ETF lineup (see XShares Launches Nine More HealthShares ETFs).

The two new HealthShares ETFs are the HealthShares European Drugs ETF and HealthShares Infectious Disease ETF.

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ETFs are organized into therapeutic “Verticals” and represent areas of the health care, life science and biotechnology industries, according to the company.

Each Vertical tracks a collection of large, mid and small-cap stocks that addresses a distinct sub-segment of health care, such as the diagnosis and treatment of specific therapeutic areas (e.g. cardiology, cancer, infectious disease, etc.) and the development of medical devices (e.g. orthopedic repair, cardio devices, etc.), according to the announcement.
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Each HealthShares ETF contains 22-25 stocks, except the HealthShares Composite which has 80 stocks, and tracks an index that is based on a proprietary intellectual model, with quantitative parameters, developed by XShares Group LLC, the parent of XShares Advisors LLC.

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