Products June 17, 2009

ThriveOn Introduces Workplace Financial Education Service

ThriveOn, Inc. has unveiled its Benefits and Open Enrollment Learning Center, designed to help employers educate employees about workplace benefits and financial topics.
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ThriveOn can be customized to support key human resource events like open enrollment, new hire training, and benefit program changes, according to a press release. Multimedia lessons provide in-depth and self-paced information, the company said.

The service provides the necessary tools to help employees better understand and value their benefits, choose options that benefit them and the company, and integrate their company-sponsored benefits and offerings with their personal financial plan.

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ThriveOn also said its Financial Wellness Center helps employees avoid financial distractions that add stress, lower productivity and adversely affect health.

More information can be found at the company’s Web site: http://www.ThriveOn.com.

Products June 17, 2009

MSCI Unveils Long/Short Indexes

MSCI Barra has launched a range of long/short factor indexes based on MSCI indexes and Barra risk models.
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The new indexes are designed to reflect the returns of a single Barra risk factor and a designated market in a replicable manner. They target the Barra Momentum, Value, Volatility, Earnings Yield, and Leverage risk factors.

“Factors such as Volatility and Leverage can play a significant role in determining portfolio risk and performance, and the availability of these long/short factor indices provides institutional investors with a valuable analytical tool for factor-based hedging and investment strategies,”said David Brierwood, chief operating officer at MSCI Inc., in a news release.

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Designed for use by institutional investors in U.S. and European equities, the eight new factor indexes are:

  • MSCI Europe Barra Momentum Index
  • MSCI Europe Barra Low Leverage Index
  • MSCI Europe Barra Low Volatility Index
  • MSCI Europe Barra Value Index
  • MSCI USA Barra Momentum Index
  • MSCI USA Barra Low Leverage Index
  • MSCI USA Barra Low Volatility Index
  • MSCI USA Barra Earnings Yield Index

The new indexes use an optimization process that is based on specified constraints and aims to achieve a specified high level of exposure to a single Barra factor, very low exposure to other factors and low tracking error to the corresponding MSCI index.

More information is available at www.mscibarra.com.

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