Empire Life announced May 28 that it is introducing seven new global funds, a fee for service option and a preferred pricing program.
Four new global portfolio options are being added to the Empire Life Emblem GIF Portfolio line up. They are: Emblem Global Conservative Portfolio GIF; Emblem Global Balanced Portfolio GIF; Emblem Global Moderate Growth Portfolio GIF and Emblem Global Aggressive Growth Portfolio GIF.
Empire Life is also adding three standalone funds to its Empire Life Guaranteed Investment Funds product line of segregated funds:They are: Empire Life Global Asset Allocation GIF, the Empire Life Strategic Corporate Bond GIF and the Empire Life Global Smaller Companies GIF, which has been reopened to GIF clients.
“These new global offerings provide clients with more fund options which invest in opportunities outside of Canada, diversify their investments and potentially increase their returns,” says CIO Ian Hardacre. “The funds leverage the existing expertise of our investment team which currently manages approximately 30 per cent of our retail segregated fund assets globally, with a focus on downside protection.”
Preferred Pricing and Fee For Service option
The company is also introducing Preferred Pricing for clients with $500,000 in household assets invested in eligible Empire Life GIF products. “The program effectively lowers the fund's cost by reinvesting the management fee credit. All clients are automatically eligible and family members in the same household can combine GIF assets to qualify for the program,” says the company.
Empire Life’s new Fee For Service purchase option “provides competitive fees” for fee-based advisors using nominee accounts for their clients, with access to all Empire Life Guaranteed Investment Funds.
Clients want choice
“We know that clients want choice and lower fees. These enhancements build on the success of our popular GIF segregated fund offering by now offering an array of investment product choices to help meet the needs of clients looking to invest either domestically or globally,” says Mike Stocks, Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer, Retail. “In addition, GIF clients will also now have more ways to reduce costs through our Preferred Pricing Program allowing their investments to grow even faster.”
