The Shielded Alpha℠ ETF Cloud-Hosted Service

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Fully Automated 

Generating the daily Creation Basket for a Shielded Alpha℠ ETF is rapid and efficient. 

At the close of each trading day submit the ETF's confidential portfolio data to the Shielded  Alpha℠ hosted service via a web browser or SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) process and generate the Creation Basket in seconds.  Fund advisors can access the service themselves or in cooperation with their custodial bank or  administrator. 

The Creation Basket (a.k.a. portfolio composition file or PCF) supports all of next day's trading and creation and redemption processes.  The ETF's custodial bank or administrator then uploads the PCF to the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) where it is then disseminated out to the market, exactly as is done currently for fully transparent ETFs.​

The Shielded Alpha℠ service is a true turnkey solution and implementation is rapid and simple.  The cloud service maps a streamlined workflow and navigation online is easy and intuitive, using simple drop down menus to capture ETF administrative and portfolio information, as well as supporting granular management of the Creation Basket.  There's no requirement to purchase hardware or develop back office systems. 

Secure and Robust

The Shielded Alpha℠ hosted service is highly secure and robust.  Employing the latest encryption techniques, a fund advisor's confidential portfolio data is encrypted at entry, in communication and at rest and is maintained in data centers located only in the United States.

Encryption keys are unique to each fund advisor, ensuring that no third party, including Blue Tractor, can view portfolio data unless authorized by the fund advisor. 

With the Shielded Alpha℠ ETF wrapper only a fund advisor and their authorized custodial bank or fund administrator knows the confidential portfolio holdings.

With all workflow needed to generate the Creation Basket online, a fund advisor doesn't have to sign multiple non-disclosure agreements with third-party service providers (e.g. calculation agents, pricing verification agent and AP Representative accounts) and doesn't have to disseminate confidential portfolio information to any third-party on a daily basis. 

​The Shielded Alpha℠ ETF wrapper guarantees that a fund advisor maintains sole control of confidential portfolio data at all times.

Blazing Fast 

​With a click of a mouse at the end of each day's trading, run the Shielded Alpha℠ hosted service.  In seconds the proprietary algorithm returns next day's Creation Basket that will be used by market makers to generate sub-second real time pricing and as their hedge and arbitrage portfolio and by authorized participants (APs) during creation and redemption transactions directly with the ETF fund advisor. 

​Whether a fund advisor manages one ETF or hundreds, the scalable service readily accommodates any number of ETFs; upload ETF portfolio data individually or as a batch file using the secure SFTP process.  

Using the intuitive drop down menu options in the cloud-hosted service, a fund advisor can scramble the securities' weightings in the Creation Basket when the fund is building a new portfolio position or exiting a position, completely cloaking all trade execution from prying eyes. 

​Additionally, using the cloud tools advisors can further manage the Creation Basket in order to capitalize on opportunities  to reduce trading costs and enhance tax efficiency during daily creation and redemption activity with APs; wholly unique benefits to an advisor with the Blue Tractor Shielded Alpha℠ ETF wrapper.