David Berns, CIO & Co-Founder, Simplify spoke with Julie Cooling, Founder & CEO, RIA Channel to discuss Simplify’s options-based approach to solving advisor problems.
Simplify is really in the business of “tackling real world problems for advisors,” says Berns on the firm’s advisor focused ETF series. One of the most pressing challenges for today’s advisors is balancing a portfolio with both protection and upside potential.
Looking beyond the classic 60/40 strategy, Simplify’s solution is centered around introducing the concept of convexity to equities. Using a combination of puts and calls as well as broad large cap exposure, Simplify’s non-linear convexity ETFs aim to thrive and outperform in more extreme market environments.
Simplify launched its first round of ETFs on September 3, 2020:
- Simplify US Equity PLUS Convexity ETF (SPYC)
- Simplify US Equity PLUS Downside Convexity ETF (SPD)
- Simplify US Equity PLUS Upside Convexity ETF (SPUC)
Simplify plans to expand their line up of ETFs in 2021 and aims to develop solutions around income, inflation, and concentrated positions. Another big point of emphasis for the Simplify team is delivering hands on portfolio construction support and continued options education.
“We want to be the advisor’s advisor,” says Berns. Berns has a strong background in developing quantitative solutions for the advisory community, with a heavy focus on asset allocation and risk management across liquid and illiquid asset classes. Berns has a PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of Quantum Computation and is the author of “Modern Asset Allocation for Wealth Management” published by Wiley.
To learn more, head here.