UBS Financial Services and NextShares Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance, announced on Wednesday that UBS Financial Services plans to offer NextSharesTM exchange-traded managed funds as part of its solutions set for clients. As a result, UBS will become the first full-service wealth manager to offer NextShares through its financial advisor network. In addition, UBS Asset Management (Americas) plans to enter into an agreement with NextShares Solutions to support the development and launch of UBS-sponsored NextShares funds in 2017. The first NextShares funds began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market earlier this year.
“At UBS our foremost commitment is to provide our clients with the advice and solutions they need to meet their investment objectives,” said Tom Naratil, President of UBS Americas and WMA. “By leading the introduction of NextShares, we enable UBS’s financial advisors to take advantage of the latest advances in fund design, with lower expenses and more tax efficiency.”
“We are pleased to support UBS in its plans to launch NextShares,” said Thomas E. Faust Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eaton Vance. “UBS’s commitment to doing what’s best for clients makes them an ideal partner for NextShares Solutions and Eaton Vance. Today’s announcement is a major milestone in the development of NextShares.”
According to a statement, UBS believes NextShares is an innovative way to invest in actively managed strategies, that offers the potential for benchmark-beating returns by applying their manager’s proprietary investment research. Along with UBS Asset Management, NextShares are expected to be offered by a range of well-known asset managers and across fund asset classes.