GradGuard Adds Covid-19 Coverage To College Housing And Tuition Insurance
GradGuard Adds Covid-19 Coverage To College Housing And Tuition Insurance
GradGuard, an e-commerce platform offering insurance products specifically designed for the collegiate market, has expanded its college renters and tuition insurance coverage to include Covid-19-related losses.
GradGuard’s Student Life Assistance service will help arrange for family transportation to visit a hospitalized student; arrange for the transportation for a student released from hospital care to return home; and arranging a student’s vehicle to be returned to his or her residence if he or she is unable to drive it there.
Claims due to known, foreseeable or expected events, epidemics, cessation of operations by the school, or fear of attending school are generally not covered, according to the company website.
Founded in 2008 by industry veterans John Fees and Bill Suneson, GradGuard has offices in Boston and Phoenix.
Litman Gregory Launches Small Value Fund
Litman Gregory Masters Funds, an affiliate of wealth management firm Litman Gregory Asset Management, will be launching the PartnerSelect SBH Focused Small Value Fund. The fund is led by Segall Bryant & Hamill’s Mark Dickherber and Shaun Nicholson, two skilled portfolio managers who specialize in small-company value investing. It was available July 31 on most trading platforms in the institutional share class.
Litman Gregory, a boutique wealth management firm headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., was co-founded in 1987 by Ken Gregory and Craig Litman.
T. Rowe Price Launches Four Active ETFs
T. Rowe Price, a Baltimore-based investment management company, has introduced four active exchange-traded funds now available to the public.
The ETFs include the Blue Chip Growth ETF, the Dividend Growth ETF, the Equity Income ETF and the Growth Stock ETF. All four are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Arca Inc.
T. Rowe Price’s active ETFs complement the firm’s traditional mutual fund offerings (and are handled by the same managers) and deliver the key features associated with existing ETFs that some investors may prefer, including continuous daily trading, real-time market determined pricing and tax efficiency.
Over time, T. Rowe Price plans to deliver a robust ETF product lineup covering investments in various asset classes.
Midland National And DPL Introduce Fixed Index Annuity
Midland National Life Insurance Company, headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, and DPL Financial Partners have launched a new, commission-free fixed index annuity (FIA).
The Midland National Capital Income annuity offers a unique health-activated income multiplier feature that can double income payments for up to five years in preparation for the annuity holder’s increased personal care costs. Available through the product’s income rider, the multiplier feature creates a guaranteed lifetime income to help safeguard retirement lifestyles.
Although not intended to replace long-term care, the multiplier feature can be turned on in the event the policyowner can’t perform at least two out of six basic activities of daily living, such as bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring in and out of beds and chairs. Other conditions and limitations apply, including a waiting period and an elimination period.
The product became exclusively available to DPL’s RIA member firms on July 21, 2020.
DPL, headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a turnkey insurance management platform for RIAs, providing low-cost, commission-free products from some of the nation’s top carriers.
La Meer Launches Modular Reg BI Compliance Solution
La Meer Inc., a financial technology firm headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., has integrated a comprehensive, modular Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) solution within its GRACE platform, a cloud-based solution that handles companies’ governance, risk and compliance.
The GRACE platform features a client management portal, a compliance portal and a client portal. The dashboards in each enable quick and easy visualization of information. Through these portals, advisors and associated persons can interact with clients, exchanging information, approvals and portfolio information in real time and with the compliance department for suitability reviews.
Because the GRACE platform is designed as a modular add-on, firms can select and only pay for what they need, as they need it, without additional vendors or integration costs. GRACE can also integrate easily with existing systems and data sources.
Grayscale Debuts Digital Currency Tool Kit For Financial Advisors
Grayscale Investments, a subsidiary of the Digital Currency Group, has launched the Digital Currency Toolkit for Financial Advisors, a new educational resource for financial advisors and wealth managers.
The free resource offers practical information about Bitcoin, portfolio simulations and different options investors have to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies.
The kit is available to download at: https://gryscl.co/toolkit.
Headquartered in New York City, Grayscale Investments is a digital currency asset manager that had more than $4.1 billion in assets under management as of July 15, 2020.