Empire Life Insurance Co. expanded its lineup of segregated funds with six new funds this week.
The company launched the seg funds under its guaranteed investment fund (GIF) contract, a release said.
The launch includes a suite of segregated fund ETF portfolios, with Vanguard Investments as the underlying fund manager:
- Empire Life Vanguard Conservative Income ETF Portfolio GIF
- Empire Life Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio GIF
- Empire Life Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio GIF
- Empire Life Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio GIF
The firm also launched the Empire Life American Growth GIF, which provides exposure to “innovative” sectors of the U.S. market while maintaining downside protection, the release said.
And the sixth fund is the Empire Life Purpose Global Bond GIF, which invests in the Purpose Global Bond ETF (TSX: BND), is subadvised by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC, and provides “greater global fixed-income diversification and the opportunity for capital appreciation as interest rates continue to shift,” the release said. Purpose Investments Inc. is the underlying fund manager.
Empire Life launched six seg funds in the spring.
Other recent product launches
On Thursday, Dynamic Funds joined the growing list of asset managers seeking to capitalize on the lower rate environment with the launch of new active fixed-income ETFs.
The Dynamic Active Bond ETF (TSX: DXBB) and the Dynamic Active Corporate Bond ETF (TSX: DXCB) have management fees of 0.30% and 0.35%, respectively.
DXBB invests in a diversified portfolio of primarily North American government and corporate fixed-income securities, a release said.
DXCB invests in a diversified portfolio of primarily investment-grade corporate fixed-income securities, it said.
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 across developed market countries, excluding Canada and the U.S., and the fund’s management expense ratio is 0.40%.