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Not Another Sweater!? Convenience is the No. 1 Reason That Monetary Gifts — Cash, Cards, CDs and Even Crypto — were Popular Gift from Parents and Grandparents, CD Valet Survey Reports

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Tech-Delivered Thank You Notes Suffice, But Grandma Prefers a Visit, Phone Call or Handwritten Note

SEATTLE, Jan. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Nearly three-quarters (72%) of parents and grandparents give the gift of green during the holiday season – whether it be cash, check, gift card or investment – because it is an easy and convenient gift that avoids unwanted returns for family members, according to a survey conducted by YouGov for CD Valet.

“Traditionally, giving money was seen as an impersonal and even lazy holiday gift,” said Mary Grace Roske, Head of Marketing for CD Valet. “Those days are gone, as their ease and flexibility make financial gifts high on everyone’s list to give and receive,” she said, adding that while less common than cash and gift cards, investments are recognized as a way to give a gift that grows in value.

The top reasons given by parents and grandparents surveyed for why they’ve given monetary gifts are convenience/ease (66%), avoiding unwanted gifts/returns (45%) and recipient has immediate financial needs (28%). For this group, monetary gifts (72%) top personal technology gifts (55%).  Clothing and toys/games remain most popular, with 82% percent of parents and grandparents reporting that these are their go-to gifts during the holidays. 

Spend Now Gifts vs. Investments (Including Crypto)

Cash or check is the most popular financial gift, followed by gift cards and investments.  The most common gift amount is under $100 (43%), but one percent of respondents report making cash gifts of $2,500 or more. Seventy-six percent of respondents who gave gift cards chose retail brand cards, followed by prepaid debit cards (67%) issued by a credit card company such as Visa. More than half (52%) of the gift cards had value of less than $100 and nearly three in 10 (28%) were between $100 and $250.

The majority of monetary gifts are for the here and now, with only 32 percent of respondents focusing on longer-term financial investments. When gifting investments, 55% of parents and grandparents who have done so said contributing to the future financial security of family members was the primary motivation. Forty-three percent 43% aim to educate their family about investing and financial planning. Tax benefits and federal tax-allowable gifts to family are a factor for 25% of participants, while 18% consider estate planning as a reason.

The tried-and-true savings bonds are the investment of choice for 42% of investment gift givers, while 29% have contributed to 529 College Savings Plans. Equities or stocks were selected by 22%, and 14% opted for cryptocurrency.

Notably, 25% of participants highlighted Certificates of Deposit (CDs) as a preferred investment gift. CDs are particularly appealing due to their low risk and predictable returns, making them an excellent choice for securing the financial future of children and grandchildren. “CDs’ popularity has grown in recent years,” said Roske. “Higher interest rates have delivered savers better returns and given that federal deposit insurance safeguards the risk to principal, CDs make an ideal financial gift.”

Generosity Comes with Strings Attached — Sometimes

Monetary gifts often come with strings attached. Among respondents who have given investments, 37% have specified that the funds be used for educational purposes, while 19% have earmarked them for housing and 16% for debt reduction. Additionally, 33% of respondents impose age-related restrictions, ensuring the recipient cannot access the funds until reaching a certain age. Nearly four in 10 (39%) of participants reported never placing any restrictions on investments.  

“Paying up for rent or a mortgage while trying to pay down your debt is the double whammy facing a lot of young adults and families,” Roske noted, “so it’s not surprising that a third of financial gifts are earmarked for these two areas.”

Expecting a Thank You Note/Text/Call? Don’t Hold Your Breath

Expressing gratitude is perhaps an art in need of greater practice amongst children and grandchildren, according to survey results.  Among parents, 40% always receive a thank you, while 19% often do, and 18% sometimes do. However, 15% of parents never receive any form of thanks. Grandparents fare worse, however, with 34% always receiving a thank you, 32% saying they often or sometimes do, but a notable 24% never getting any acknowledgment.

When it comes to preferred ways of receiving thanks, traditional methods are favored: 20% of parents and grandparents prefer voice calls and 14% prefer handwritten notes. While technology-driven channels like texts (9%) and video calls (6%) are acceptable, they are less preferred. Interestingly, 32% are open to any form of acknowledgment, and 9% do not expect a thank you message at all.

The research which was conducted by YouGov. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 3286 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 18th – 23rd December 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+). YouGov conducts polls on the Internet about politics, public affairs, products, brands and other topics of general interest. YouGov polls are taken by people, from all over the nation, who have agreed to share their thoughts on a wide variety of important issues.

CD Valet is an online marketplace connecting consumers with financial institutions to compare and open Certificates of Deposits (CD) with the most competitive rates and terms nationwide. Unlike other rate comparison sites, CD Valet shows the most competitive rates from financial institutions across the nation, from the smallest credit unions and community banks to the largest nationwide and internet banks. With daily rate updates and earnings calculators, CD Valet gives consumers comprehensive data and free tools to help them find the right CD to meet their savings goals. CD Valet, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seattle Bancshares, Inc. Visit CDValet.com

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SOURCE CD Valet

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HydraForce, Elevāt, and Bosch Rexroth Announce Enhanced Remote OTA Update Capabilities for Off-Highway Equipment

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July 23, 2026

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SEATTLE, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Building on their strategic collaboration, HydraForce, a global leader in motion control systems and Elevāt, an industrial IoT and applied AI platform provider, announced a significant advancement in remote machine management.

The HydraForce Connected Control Unit (CCU) from Bosch, integrated with Elevāt software, is now capable of providing remote access and performing over-the-air (OTA) updates on Bosch Rexroth BODAS controllers.

This enhanced capability empowers HydraForce and Elevāt customers to streamline operations, reduce downtime, and significantly improve machine performance and serviceability. By leveraging the integrated solution, OEMs can use the Elevāt platform to remotely diagnose issues and deploy critical software updates to the BODAS controllers on their equipment without requiring on-site service personnel.

“The ability to remotely access and update Bosch Rexroth BODAS controllers using the Elevāt platform takes our collaborative vision of bridging hydraulics, electronics, and digital services to the next level,” said Russ Schneidewind, director of business developmentat at HydraForce.  “The cooperation between Elevāt and Bosch Rexroth is directly addressing the industry’s need for complete, future-ready solutions.”

Adam Livesay, co-founder and CEO of Elevāt, commented, “At Elevāt, we believe the future of equipment service is connected, intelligent, and proactive. This collaboration helps OEMs deliver the next generation of service by  accelerating software deployment and enabling faster issue resolution in the field. The addition of remote BODAS controller updates is another key milestone toward a fully integrated ecosystem that simplifies the connection between hardware, software, and digital services—helping manufacturers bring intelligent equipment to market faster while creating new opportunities for recurring customer value.”

HydraForce and Elevāt plan to further their collaboration with additional remote machine management capabilities to be announced in the future.

About HydraForce HydraForce is a global designer and manufacturer of motion control systems, encompassing hydraulic cartridge valves, manifolds and electronic controls for a variety of off-highway industries, including farming, construction, marine, material handling, mining, and forestry. HydraForce was acquired by Bosch Rexroth, becoming a significant part of the Compact Hydraulics Business Unit. Bosch Rexroth and HydraForce combine their presence in complementary regions to provide comprehensive coverage in Europe and North America, while enabling growth in Asia.

About Bosch Rexroth As one of the world’s leading suppliers of drive and control technologies, Bosch Rexroth ensures efficient, powerful and safe movement in machines and systems of any size. The company bundles global application experience in the market segments of Mobile and Industrial Applications as well as Factory Automation. With its intelligent components, customized system solutions, engineering and services, Bosch Rexroth is creating the necessary environment for fully connected applications. Bosch Rexroth offers its customers hydraulics, electric drive and control technology, gear technology and linear motion and assembly technology, including software and interfaces to the Internet of Things. With locations in over 80 countries, around 31,900 associates generated sales revenue of 6.5 billion euros in 2025.  To learn more, please visit www.boschrexroth.com.

About Bosch Having established a presence in North America in 1906, today the Bosch Group employs around 38,000 associates in more than 100 locations in the North American region (as of Dec. 31, 2024). According to preliminary figures, Bosch generated consolidated sales of $18.7 billion in the U.S., Mexico and Canada in 2025. For more information visit www.bosch.us, www.bosch.mx and www.bosch.ca. The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 412,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2025). According to preliminary figures, the company generated sales of 91 billion euros in 2025. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. With its business activities, the company aims to use technology to help shape universal trends such as automation, electrification, digitalization, connectivity, and an orientation to sustainability. In this context, Bosch’s broad diversification across regions and industries strengthens its innovativeness and robustness. Bosch uses its proven expertise in sensor technology, software, and services to offer customers cross-domain solutions from a single source. It also applies its expertise in connectivity and artificial intelligence in order to develop and manufacture user-friendly, sustainable products. With technology that is “Invented for life,” Bosch wants to help improve quality of life and conserve natural resources. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 490 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. Bosch’s innovative strength is key to the company’s further development. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 82,000 associates in research and development. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-four percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a limited liability company with a charitable purpose. The remaining shares are held by Robert Bosch GmbH and by a company owned by the Bosch family. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG. It is entrusted with the task of safeguarding the company’s long-term existence and in particular its financial independence – in line with the mission handed down in the will of the company’s founder, Robert Bosch. Additional information is available online at www.bosch-press.com, www.bosch.com.

About Elevāt Elevāt is a leading industrial IoT and applied AI platform purpose-built for off-highway OEMs. Elevāt enables manufacturers to connect machines, unlock actionable intelligence, and deliver next-generation digital services across the entire equipment lifecycle. Additional information is available online at www.getelevat.com

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SOURCE Elevat, Inc

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FutureSports launches as new index provider transforming sports statistics into tradable financial instruments

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July 23, 2026

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Backed by leading financial and sports institutions, firm will leverage partnerships to bring critical new hedging vehicles to sports ecosystem

CHICAGO, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — FutureSports, the new independent index administrator transforming professional and college sports statistics into rules-based, benchmark financial indexes, today announced its emergence from stealth. Backed by a broad range of leading financial and sports institutions, FutureSports in the coming months will announce a series of partnerships, collaborations and products that will bring significant new risk management and trading opportunities to the massive ecosystem supporting the most popular sports.

FutureSports previously raised a seed investment round co-led by Marquee Ventures, spun out of the ownership group of the Chicago Cubs. Major financial industry leaders joined the round, including CME Ventures (the corporate venture capital division of CME Group), Robinhood Markets, Inc., WEDBUSH and DRW Special Investments (an investment arm of DRW). Other investors include Motivate VC, Phoenix Capital Ventures, and John and Linda Henry (Fenway Sports Group).

The company also announced the addition of industry experts to its board of directors, including Chairman Mark Wassersug, longtime Chief Operating & Information Officer of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE); Tim McCourt, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Equity, FX, and Alternative Products at CME Group, and Erik Hammer, Managing Partner at Marquee Ventures.

The firm will soon unveil its first series of exclusive partnerships with major sports leagues, paving the way for institutional investors and companies in and around the sports industry to manage their risk in an unprecedented fashion and participate in regulated, tradable, broad-based index futures contracts based on team and athlete statistical performance. FutureSports creates rules-based financial indexes, known as FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI), that accurately represent the performance of teams and athletes in prominent sports leagues. By utilizing transparent, rules-based methodologies based on officially reported statistical outcomes, the company creates continuous values designed to underpin tradable financial products, such as listed derivatives, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and over-the-counter (OTC) swaps.

Potential market participants will include league broadcasting partners, team and athlete sponsors and endorsers, insurers, stadium owners and operators, private equity investors, lenders, and apparel manufacturers. Asset managers, pension funds and professional trading firms are expected to participate in the contracts and contribute to liquidity in this new uncorrelated asset class. Retail investors will also be able to participate in the first-of-their-kind trading vehicles, which the company expects to capture the interest of sophisticated traders looking for more traditional financial trading instruments

Leigh Taylforth, FutureSports Co-Founder, said: “The global sporting industry generates $650 billion a year, yet there has been no liquid, robust opportunity to hedge the extensive and varied industry risks that range from weather events, to injuries, to unanticipated behavior issues and more. That is about to change. We’ve been truly gratified to see the interest our business has generated within the sports and sports-adjacent industries and the quality of investors we have attracted already.”

Rhett Dinsdale, FutureSports Co-Founder, said: “Up until today, we have been operating in stealth mode while developing our products and establishing key relationships that we expect to be fundamental to our success as we move forward. The recent rise in popularity of prediction markets has only reinforced the concept we created several years ago, that sports as an asset class has huge utility within the sports and entertainment industries, with indexes serving as key institutional instruments to manage risk. What is sorely needed is the type of reliable data and financial instruments that institutional investors have leveraged for so long within the regulated derivatives industry, and we’re excited to bring these to market.”

The Executive team includes Co-Founders Taylforth and Dinsdale, who each have more than 20 years of experience in derivatives trading for market makers, investment banks and hedge funds, along with:

Dave Abbott, Chief Technology Officer – formerly Managing Director at Sportradar;Steve Byrd, Head of Partnerships – formerly Chief Operating Officer (COO) at STATS LLC & Chief Commercial Officer at Sportradar US;Jodie Gunzberg, Head of Index Services – formerly Managing Director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, Morgan Stanley & CoinDesk;Tom Jenkins, Head of Business Development – formerly Head of Index Partnerships & Strategy at FTSE Russell;Josh Kravitt, Head of Operations – formerly Director at CME Ventures;Sunny Modi, Head of Product – formerly Head of BI at Ardent Leisure Group;Mike Philipp, Chief Legal & Strategy Officer – formerly partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP;Charlie Thornton, Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer – formerly Chief of Staff and COO at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

About FutureSports

Under development since 2022 and launched in 2026, Chicago-based FutureSports has created a proprietary index methodology for measuring on-field, on-ice and on-court performance for a range of professional sporting teams and athletes. Partnering with many of the most recognizable sports leagues and financial market participants, FutureSports transforms live, play-by-play statistical data into rules-based, benchmark indexes that may be referenced by exchange-listed financial products. The indexes are designed to serve the same benchmarking function as the leading equity, commodity and fixed income indexes utilized every day across major global exchanges to track performance and hedge risk in the financial markets. For more information, visit www.futuresports.com.

 

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SOURCE FutureSports

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Capital Group Canada Launches Three Active Equity ETFs on TSX

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48 minutes ago

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July 23, 2026

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The ETF suite now includes five active equity ETFs and two active fixed income ETFs designed to sit at the core of investment portfolios

TORONTO, July 23, 2026 /CNW/ — Capital International Asset Management (Canada), Inc. (“Capital Group Canada”) has launched three new active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) today. The three equity strategies are designed to give options for investors looking to diversify their portfolios with non-domestic exposures including U.S., international and developed market securities.  

The new active ETFs are:

CAPU – Capital Group U.S. Equity Select ETF (Canada): Seeks long-term growth of capital and income through investments primarily in common stocks of U.S. issuers.CAPN – Capital Group International Developed Equity Select ETF (Canada): Seeks to provide prudent growth of capital through investments primarily in equity securities of issuers in developed markets outside North America. CAPQ – Capital Group Global Developed Equity Select ETF (Canada): Seeks to provide prudent growth of capital through investments primarily in equity securities of issuers in developed markets.

“As demand for ETFs continues to grow, our expanded lineup gives investors more ways to access Capital Group’s distinctive active investment approach, including our deep research capabilities and multiple portfolio manager system,” said Rick Headrick, president of Capital Group Canada. “As one of the world’s largest active investment managers with over 90 years of experience, we are able to share the benefits of our global scale and offer competitively priced active ETFs designed to sit at the core of an investor’s portfolio.”

“Clients tell us they are looking beyond borders for opportunities to build diversified portfolios,” said Angela Shim, head of product and development at Capital Group Canada. “The three equity strategies expand Capital Group Canada’s core offerings in U.S., international, and global equities, giving investors flexible solutions that can help them navigate global markets and stay focused on their long-term investment goals.”

The three ETFs closed their initial offering of units on July 22, 2026.

The additions expand Capital Group Canada’s ETF lineup to seven, building on a prior launch of two equity and two fixed income ETFs. Details of Capital Group Canada’s full suite of active ETFs can be found here.

About Capital Group

Capital International Asset Management (Canada), Inc. is part of Capital Group, a global investment management firm originating in Los Angeles, California. As Capital Group approaches its 100th anniversary in 2031, its long-term strategy remains firmly rooted in its mission to improve people’s lives through successful investing. With over 9,000 associates and 34 offices around the world, Capital Group manages US$3.6 trillion in assets for millions of wealth management and institutional clients around the world*.

*As of June 30, 2026.

For more information, visit: www.capitalgroup.com/ca/en

SOURCE Capital Group Canada

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