NICSA announces winners of 2017 NOVA Awards: News Scan

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NICSA announces winners of 2017 NOVA Awards
NICSA announced the winners of this year's NOVA Awards, which showcase excellence in innovation and leadership across a number of categories in the asset management industry.

The winners will be honored on Oct. 5 in Boston at the NICSA 2017 general membership meeting. The winners were nominated by their colleagues and chosen by an independent panel of judges made up of leaders in the space.

State Street CEO Jay Hooley is the recipient of the 2017 Robert L. Gould Award.
Jay Hooley, chairman and chief executive officer of State Street Corp., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Monday, May 1, 2017. The conference is a unique setting that convenes individuals with the capital, power and influence to move the world forward meet face-to-face with those whose expertise and creativity are reinventing industry, philanthropy and media. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

The NOVA Strategic Leadership Award went to Mark Casady, retired chairman and CEO of LPL Financial; the NOVA Award for Innovation in Technology went to BNY Mellon; the NOVA Award for Innovation in Product Development and Marketing went to DST Systems; and the NOVA award for operational excellence was given to State Street.

The NOVA Award for Emerging Leaders in the Asset Management Industry honorees include Michael Akins, senior vice president and head of ETFs at ALPS; Patrick Hurley, vice president at OppenheimerFunds; Divya Mathew, senior manager at Deloitte; and Kelli O'Brien, vice president at JPMorgan.

The NICSA Lifetime Achievement Award went to American Funds president Steve Duncan. The Robert L. Gould Award was given to State Street CEO Jay Hooley.

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RESEARCH
Janus study shows record global dividend growth
Global dividends have soared to record numbers, according to a new study. This helped to drive global Q2 dividends higher, with global payouts rising 5.4% to $447.5 billion, according to Janus Henderson's latest global dividend study.

The study's results are broken down by region, and every region saw a rise in dividend growth.

Underlying dividend growth was 7.2%, the fastest since late 2015. The U.S., Japan, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Indonesia, and South Korea all posted new quarterly records.

The study is based on the Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index, which measures global firms' progress in paying their investors an income on their capital, as well as tracking dividends paid by the 1,200 largest firms, by market cap.

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PRODUCTS
Direxion launches emerging markets bond ETF
Investor solutions provider Direxion has launched the Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bond Bull 3X ETF (EMBU), which has an expense ratio of 1.08%, seeks to achieve 300% of the daily performance of the JPMorgan EMBI Global Core Index. This index offers exposure to dollar dominated government bonds that have been issued by 55 emerging market countries.

"Emerging market bonds can offer the opportunity to gain higher yield and return, which has been the case recently," Direxion managing director Sylvia Jablonski said. "Traders often look to emerging market bonds as a means to support or express bullish views on the prospect for growth and development of these nations."

XY Planning launches turnkey asset management platform
In an effort to better serve its Gen X and Gen Y investors, XY Planning Network launched a turnkey asset management platform called XY Investment Solutions. The wholly-owned subsidiary of XYPN, which will service the company's 425 members, was created in partnership with TD Ameritrade.

"The XYIS platform will let advisors focus on what they do best and outsource less critical functions such as account-opening, trading, and rebalancing," said XY Planning Network co-founder Alan Moore.

AdvisorShares' media, tech ETFs now trading on CBOE
AdvisorShares announced that its new tech and media ETFs are now listed for trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange under the ticker FNG.

"The fund is an actively managed ETF that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in securities of technology and media companies," the company said.

Brandes, NextShares team up in ETF launch
Brandes Investment Partners has reached an early agreement with NextShares Solutions to aid in the launch of Brandes of NextShares exchange traded managed funds.

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To add insult to injury, these losers charge high fees – 12 of the 20 have expense ratios over 1%.

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"Brandes seeks to provide stability, consistency, outperformance and exceptional services to generations of clients," Stephen Clarke, president of NextShares Solutions, said. "For those reasons, Brandes will make a great partner in bringing the distribution of NextShares to investors."

Vanguard plans to launch Total Corporate Bond ETF
In August Vanguard filed a preliminary registration statement with the SEC for a new index portfolio, Vanguard Total Corporate Bond ETF, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter and offer investors access to all of the investment grade corporate bond market through one fund.

The firm explains that the fund is going to be structured as an "ETF of ETFs" and will invest in three established low cost ETFs: Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF, Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF, and Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF.

Voya announces new IRA
Voya is going to offer a new tool providing advisors access to its mutual fund portfolio. The Voya Select Advantage Advisory IRA will offer advisors with a number of investment options at a lower cost when compared to other IRA platforms, the firm said.

"Voya Select Advantage Advisory IRA is a simple, streamlined solution offering [customers] choice, convenience and control over their retirement dollars - while also providing the comfort of working with a financial professional to advise them along the away," Carolyn Johnson, CEO of Annuities and Individual Life at Voya Financial, said.

Former CEG Worldwide corporate solutions head Paul Brunswick joined OppenheimerFunds.
Paul Brunswick, Senior Business Consultant at OppenheimerFunds' CEO Advisor Institute. (PRNewsfoto/OppenheimerFunds)

ARRIVALS
BNY Mellon's Pershing selects Jim Crowley for COO role
BNY Mellon's Pershing appointed company veteran Jim Crowley as its new chief operating officer, after the departure of former COO Lori Hardwick in February. Until now the firm's executive committee had taken on Hardwick's responsibilities following her resignation.

"Jim has been working closely with our clients to understand their needs, and his leadership will help us to continue to deliver solutions that empower our clients and improve the overall experience," Pershing CEO Lisa Dolly said.

Crowley has been with the firm for 35 years in a variety of roles, including a one at the New York Stock Exchange before leading the marketing and business development efforts for Pershing's fixed income business, according to BNY Mellon.

OppenheimerFunds expands CEO Advisor Institute
OppenheimerFunds appointed former CEG Worldwide corporate solutions head, Paul Brunswick, to its CEO Advisor Institute, a division dedicated to helping advisors expand their practice and get the best results for clients, according to the firm.

Brunswick has 30 years of industry experience working with institutional and ultra-high-net-worth clients, advisors and branch managers, the firm said. He will report to Paul Blease, director of CEO Advisor Institute at OppenheimerFunds.

Newfleet names institutional business development head
Former RBC Global Asset Management Managing Director William Irvine has joined Newfleet Asset Management as the head of the firm's institutional business development segment. The focus of Irvine's 25 years in the financial services sector has been on fixed income strategies as well as consultant and client relationship management, the firm said.

Newfleet sees the addition of Irvine to the team as a way to expand its footprint in those markets.

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Fund performance Asset management Asset managers Mutual funds ETFs Alternative investments State Street Vanguard BNY Mellon Pershing Money Management Executive
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