This week, Empire Life Insurance Co. expanded its offer of segregated funds with six new funds.
As stated in the announcement, the company launched seg funds under the Guaranteed Investment Fund (GIF) agreement.
The launch includes a suite of dedicated ETF portfolios with Vanguard Investments as the underlying fund manager:
- GIF portfolio from the Empire Life Vanguard Conservative Income ETF portfolio
- GIF from the Empire Life Vanguard Conservative ETF portfolio
- GIF Empire Life Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio
- Empire Life Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio GIF
According to the release, the company also launched GIF Empire Life American Growth, which provides exposure to “innovative” sectors of the US market while maintaining downside protection.
The sixth fund is Empire Life Purpose Global Bond GIF, which invests in the Purpose Global Bond ETF (TSX: BND), advised by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC, and provides “greater global diversification in fixed income instruments and the ability to raise capital appreciation in connection with further change in interest rates,” we read in the statement. Cel Investments Inc. is the manager of the underlying fund.
In the spring, Empire Life launched six segment funds.
Other recent product launches
Dynamic Funds on Thursday joined a growing list of asset managers looking to take advantage of a lower interest rate environment with the launch of new fixed-income active ETFs.
For Dynamic Active Bond ETF (TSX: DXBB) and Dynamic Active Corporate Bond ETF (TSX: DXCB), management fees are 0.30% and 0.35%, respectively.
As stated in the release, DXBB invests in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of North American government and corporate fixed income securities.
DXCB invests in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of investment grade corporate fixed income securities.
On Tuesday, BMO Asset Management Inc. announced the launch of the BMO MSCI EAFE High Quality Index ETF (TSX: ZIQ).
The fund invests in large and mid-cap issuers from developed market countries, excluding Canada and the United States, and has a fund management expense ratio of 0.40%.
