Jackson National's SMA subsidiary allows selection of up to 50 securities. Third-party separately managed account provider Curian Capital has launched a new tax-harvesting feature to help advisors better manage the portfolios they administer.

"Customizing your tax preferences is another advantage that SMAs offer over traditional investment vehicles such as mutual funds," says Michael Bell, president and CEO of Denver-based Curian. "We developed our new capabilities in tandem with Curian's Tax Advisory Council, which is made up of third-party financial professionals and CPAs."

The new feature includes:

Online real-time gain-and-loss analysis Curian's web site now allows financial professionals to analyze gain/loss scenarios to determine which strategy is best for an individual client.
 Electronic signature capability A new electronic signature feature allows financial professionals to obtain client approvals with no physical paperwork.
Shortened time out of the market Once selected positions are liquidated, the proceeds are invested in an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that has been pre-selected based on a client's investment model. The account will be re-balanced after 35 days to realign the account with the manager's security weightings. Previously, Curian's re-balancing time frame was 60 days.
Client accounts overview The accounts overview page on the Curian producer web site has been enhanced to provide additional client information, including realized and unrealized gains and losses, as well as dividend details for faster book of business management.

As many as 50 securities, including exchange-traded funds, are available for tax harvesting selection. Clients can submit multiple tax harvesting requests, as long as the total number of securities harvested does not exceed 50. If multiple submissions are made within the 35-day window, the account is rebalanced 35 days from the last submission.

Curian is a subsidiary of Jackson National Life Insurance. It has an unusual approach to building SMA portfolios based on manager models and fractional shares. -FWR

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