On Monday, Allianz Investment Management LLC (AllianzIM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life®), announced the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer10 Jan ETF (NYSE Arca: AZAJ) and the AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Jan ETF (NYSE Arca: AZBJ) will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Designed to expand the risk management strategies available to investors, AllianzIM Buffered Outcome ETFs seek to match the returns of the S&P 500 Price Return Index up to a stated Cap while providing a level of downside risk mitigation through a Buffer against the first 10% and 20% of S&P 500 Price Return Index losses for AZAJ and AZBJ, respectively.
| Ticker | Cap1 | Buffer1 | Outcome Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZAJ | 13.45% Gross / 12.71% Net | 10% Gross / 9.26% Net | January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 |
| AZBJ | 6.91% Gross / 6.17% Net | 20% Gross / 19.26% Net | January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021 |
1 Gross reflects the Cap and Buffer prior to taking into account the 0.74% expense ratio of the ETF while Net accounts for the expense ratio but does not include brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes, and non-routine or extraordinary expenses. The Cap and Buffer experienced by investors may be different from the stated numbers. The funds’ website, at www.allianzIM.com, provides important fund information as well as information relating to the potential outcomes of an investment in the Fund on a daily basis.
Mitigate Risks
“As we kick off 2021, investors are faced with the risks of an ongoing global health crisis, continued market volatility, and a prolonged period of low interest rates,” said Brian Muench, president of AllianzIM. “The latest series of AllianzIM Buffered Outcome ETFs can help investors mitigate these risks in their portfolios without sacrificing the opportunity to participate in the upside potential of the equity market.”
The 12-month outcome period of the January ETF series will be January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021. While there may be benefits to investing in the ETFs from the onset, investors can purchase the funds at any time within the stated outcome period. Each outcome period reflects a new stated cap commensurate with prevailing market conditions, allowing investors to remain invested with a level of risk mitigation.
AllianzIM’s Buffered Outcome ETFs are offered at an expense ratio of 0.74%, with portfolio management conducted in-house by AllianzIM. AZAJ and AZBJ represent the final ETFs in the inaugural quarterly series for AllianzIM’s ETF product line. Additional U.S. Large Cap Buffered Outcome ETFs currently available in the AllianzIM ETF suite include: (AZAA), (AZBA), (AZAL), (AZBL), (AZAO), and (AZBO).
The AllianzIM Buffered Outcome ETFs leverage AllianzIM’s core strengths, which include risk management experience and in-house hedging capabilities. As part of one of the largest asset management and diversified insurance companies in the world, AllianzIM, with an AUM of $16.4 billion, is powered by the same proprietary in-house hedging platform that is used among affiliates to help manage more than $145 billion in hedged assets for institutional and retail investors around the globe. Offering a new way to help investors seek to mitigate risk and reduce volatility, these new ETFs complement Allianz Life’s suite of annuity and life insurance products.
For more information on the AllianzIM Buffered Outcome ETF suite, please visit www.allianzIM.com.
This article originally appeared on ETFTrends.com.
