Parametric Portfolio Associates, the separately managed account firm acquired by Morgan Stanley as part of its deal for Eaton Vance, has launched Parametric Tax Harvest Core, tax managed SMAs available to U.S. taxable investors with $100,000 or more.
That is a lower entry point than Parametric’s Custom Core SMA offering, which has a minimum of $250,000 in assets.
“As we look to expand upon our market leading position in the direct indexing industry, we are introducing Tax Harvest Core to bring the benefits of tax-managed custom SMAs to more advisors and a greater number of their clients,” said Rob Ciro, managing director, product management, at Parametric.
The new offerings include two portfolio strategies: one benchmarked to the S&P 500 and the other benchmarked to the Russell 3000. The portfolios will invest in sector ETFs, and the firm will aim for after-tax returns through tax-loss harvesting and other tax management strategies. Advisors and their clients will be able to customize each portfolio by restricting sectors, funding positions with cash or in kind, and accessing charitable giving options.
Direct indexing and portfolio customization have risen in popularity over the past few years, with some of the biggest players in asset management and financial services making broad inroads. Vanguard, for instance, recently got into the space with its acquisition last week of Just Invest, a wealthtech platform with a direct indexing offering.
Parametric is one of the biggest direct indexers, with $381 billion in assets on behalf of institutions, high-net-worth individuals and fund investors, as of the end of March.
Viridi Funds Launches First Clean Energy Crypto Mining ETF
Viridi Funds, a Seattle-based asset manager focused on cryptocurrency investment products, launched an actively managed ETF this week that claims to be the first clean energy crypto mining product in the U.S.
The Viridi Cleaner Energy Crypto-Mining & Semiconductor ETF (ticker: RIGZ) won’t invest directly in cryptocurrencies but rather in companies actively involved in crypto mining, from producers of computer chips, manufacturers of computer equipment and market participants creating cryptocurrency themselves.
“RIGZ will likely have indirect exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies as many publicly listed miners have these assets on their balance sheets,” the fund company said, in a statement.
“The rationale for owning a mining and infrastructure company is much the same as a senior gold producer—leveraged returns as compared to the underlying commodity,” said Wes Fulford, CEO of Viridi Funds, in a statement. “We believe that based on recent developments within the Chinese mining sector, North American miners that have access to sustainable low-cost power, large fleets of new-generation rigs, and access to capital are well positioned to generate higher returns during the months and years ahead.”
European-based digital asset investment manager CoinShares recently made a strategic investment in Viridi Funds.
Passive Funds Drive Record Inflows in First Half of 2021
Mutual funds and ETFs gathered a record $722 billion over the first half of this year, the largest semiannual total since 1993, according to Morningstar data. That record was driven primarily by passive funds, which took in $161 billion in the first half of 2021. By contrast, investors withdrew $88 billion from actively managed U.S. equity funds over the six-month period.
Vanguard and iShares were the big winners, with the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX) taking in over $15.0 billion of inflows, followed by the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) with $14.0 billion. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) collected $12.6 billion. The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), was the outlier as an actively managed fund, pulling in $7.4 billion over the first half of the year.
June inflows were driven by investors’ interest in taxable-bond funds, which took in $48 billion during the month, the highest total among Morningstar’s categories.
