Product news: Fidelity partners with Brookfield on private real estate

Fidelity Investments Canada ULC has partnered with Brookfield Asset Management to offer high-net-worth investors access to private Canadian real estate.

The asset managers said this week that Brookfield will manage a Canadian real estate portfolio that Fidelity will allocate to its private investment pools, which have a $150,000 minimum investment. Fidelity said it’s “actively exploring other opportunities” to utilize the portfolio.

More asset managers are moving into private markets, looking to offer investors greater diversification and investments uncorrelated to stocks and bonds after last year’s market rout. Purpose Investments launched three private funds earlier this year, including a real estate fund, while BMO Global Asset Management recently introduced a multi-asset-class private markets fund that includes a real estate component.

The move into private real estate comes in a challenging high-rate environment with some funds struggling to meet investor redemption requests.

Last year, BMO Investments Inc. partnered with Brookfield Public Securities Group LLC on funds focused on listed real estate and infrastructure companies.

A purer tech play

Tech investors looking for a purer play than the Nasdaq 100 have a new option. Evolve Funds Group Inc. launched the Evolve NASDAQ Technology Index Fund (TSX: QQQT), which is focused on the 38 Nasdaq 100 stocks classified as technology companies.

While the Nasdaq is known for exposure to the biggest tech names, it features companies classified as consumer discretionary, consumer staples, health care, telecommunications and even a few industrials.

Some of the world’s biggest companies — Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Nvidia Corporation and Meta Platforms Inc. — are classified as technology, but others such as Tesla Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are consumer discretionary.

The Evolve fund will track the Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector Adjusted Market-Cap Weighted Index, which limits a single company’s weight to 10% of the index.

The Nasdaq 100 had its best half in 40 years and is up more than 42% this year. The Nasdaq 100 Technology Sector Index is up about 44%.

The Nasdaq 100 is preparing a special rebalancing on July 24 to reduce the concentration of its biggest names.

The management fee for the Evolve ETF is 0.25% and the risk rating is medium to high.

Mark Burgess

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Mark was the managing editor of Advisor.ca from 2017 to 2024.