Portfolio

Direxion has added two new leveraged inverse products to its repertoire. The Direxion Daily Brazil Bear 3x Shares (BRZS) seeks to capture 300% of the inverse performance of the MSCI Brazil 25/50 Index.

Invesco Ltd. (IVZ), owner of the Invesco, Van Kampen and PowerShares funds, said first-quarter profit rose 15 percent as record client deposits lifted assets.

Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN), manager of the Franklin and Templeton mutual funds, said fiscal second- quarter profit rose 14 percent as gains in global stock markets increased assets under management.

Vanguard said Monday that it cut the expense ratios on several of its bond mutual funds and ETFs in April. These include three of its popular bond ETFs: the Long-Term Bond Index Fund (BLV), the Intermediate-Term Bond Index Fund (BIV) and the Short Term Bond Index Fund (BSV). Each fund saw its price tag change from 11 bps to 10 bps.

Fixed-income exchange-traded funds have made big strides in asset gathering over the past five years, rising from $53.7 billion in 2008 to $229.1 billion by March of 2013, according to Lipper.

WisdomTree Investments, an ETF sponsor and asset manager, reported net income of $7.9 million for the first quarter of 2013, up seven times from the year ago quarter and 50% from the fourth quarter of 2012.

As global growth slows, emerging markets economies are catching up. And the result is a global paradigm shift of historical proportions.

From the ball field to Sunday service, BNA's Mike Alef is an Everyman figure in the world of financial planning.

Julie Castle, COO of the wealth management unit of Zions Bancorp., says her firm is primed for a growth spurt. "We could be 10 times the size we are today with 5 to 7 years," she says of the firm's projected AUM.

Starting holistic planning earlier will help preserve boomers' wealth