SMArtX Advisory Solutions, a turnkey asset management platform that grew out of alternative investment platform Hedgecovest, as one company bringing direct indexing to financial advisors, today announced the addition of 14 new direct indexing models from S-Network Global Indexes, one of which will be offered free of charge, with no platform or manager fees. That’s in addition to the 30 direct indexes already offered from BRI Partners.
Direct indexing brings the benefits of separately managed accounts—for years the favored tool of advisors to wealthy clients—to the masses. (Read more about direct indexing here.)
Using the technology of direct indexing, advisors can customize indexes or model portfolios for their clients, using fractional shares of stocks, automatically rebalanced, with low fees and transaction costs. Orion Advisor Services recently released details about its direct indexing platform, Project ASTRO.
SMArtX provides direct indexing strategies through a UMA/SMA structure, letting investors skip over the ETF product providers and go right into the index. With the addition of S-Network Global Indexes, SMArtX will offer the S-Net 500 US Large Cap Index for free. SMArtX says the index has maintained a monthly correlation to the S&P 500 of 0.9989 from Dec. 31, 2012 through 2017. Its annualized tracking error over that time was 0.45 percent.
The expanded platform will also include Thomson Reuters/S-Network’s ESG Best Practice Indexes, which include companies with favorable corporate social responsibility practices.
SMArtX’s direct indexing strategies have minimums as low as $14,000, and the company charges a maximum of 15 basis points to access all the features and strategies on the platform.
“First SMArtX developed technology to provide real-time performance reporting and offer alternative strategies in a UMA,” said Evan Rapoport, CEO of SMArtX Advisory Solutions. “Now we are leveraging our technology to bring more institutional strategies to the masses at no cost while streamlining the investment process, simplifying portfolio construction, and helping maximize after-tax returns.”