FLX Networks, a platform that connects asset and wealth managers, launched a new service that it hopes will increase engagement among closed-end fund issuers, wealth managers, financial advisors and investors.
FLX CEF Nexus will provide financial advisors with data and education on closed-end funds, including the use of video and written thought leadership content. It will also allow asset managers to market their offerings in the wealth channel through what FLX founder and CEO Brian Moran called a “virtual storefront.”
Moran noted that FLX CEF Nexus will provide a comprehensive understanding of closed-end funds. It will go beyond a performance-based rating, focusing on explaining fund strategies, introducing advisers to who the fund managers are, and creating a more in-depth view of the industry than what people might find in it. quarterly performance data. FLX will offer a dedicated closed-end fund category on the Investment Exchange, a dedicated FLX TV channel for fund updates and a monthly newsletter to help raise investor awareness, in addition to providing industry data.
Closed-end funds make up a $250 billion market. However, the closed-end fund channel “has historically, from our perspective, been underserved when it came to creating new content, new thought leadership beyond what was required to deliver in just a quarterly update or fact sheet . There's a really good opportunity for investors and advisors to learn more about this space, given the fact that some of these portfolios represent tremendous opportunities to engage strategies that can deliver alpha,” Moran said.
Eighty asset managers and advisors/representatives from over 200 wealth management firms have joined the platform. While the FLX CEF Nexus will provide information on all closed-end funds, more detailed data will be available for funds run by those managers who participate in the FLX community.
FLX, which has always had a closed-end fund orientation, has grown significantly over the past five years, according to John Cole Scott, chief investment officer with RIA firm Closed-End Fund Advisors. He noted that part of the function behind the new offering may be to garner secondary market support for closed-end funds that do not have strong representation with wholesale traders. At the same time, “advisors can actually gain a lot of value from the deep base of resources available out there, and they're looking to make a bigger gap accessible to registered representatives and registered investment advice.”
The new service will also provide asset managers with marketing and distribution capabilities, including content and promotion, lead generation, board support and reporting, website development and access to experienced wholesaler teams.
“Many managers in the closed-end fund space may not have the internal resources to develop that content in a timely manner,” Moran said. “They may not have in-house media, video or production facilities. They may not even have the technology or the data to effectively target,” Moran said. “With FLX, they can use that single solution to bring all those components together and then leverage that virtual storefront as a way to market directly to advisors who are also coming to FLX.”