Portfolio

Global exchange-traded fund assets have increased by 13.9% from $1.35 trillion to $1.54 trillion year-to-date, through the end of July 2012.

The tax-exempt market posted a sixth consecutive trading session of gains on Tuesday as demand has outweighed supply in the muni market this week, and prices are following Treasuries higher.

Commissioners Daniel M. Gallagher and Troy A. Paredes say proposed reforms to money funds “were unlikely to be effective.’’

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 21.68 points Tuesday to finish at 13,102.99. The S&P 500 fell 1.14 points to end at 1,409.30 and the Nasdaq rose 3.95 points to close at 3,077.14.

Fidelity Investments today named Abigail Johnson president of Fidelity Financial Services, consolidating all of the company’s core businesses under her leadership.

Ryan Kaufman decided to leave Woodbury, where he has worked since 2009, after the company announced in July that it would be acquired by American International Group. "Given my personal experiences and past dealings with the potential new purchaser, I thought it would be hard for me to go back to my clients and explain that we were re-affiliating with the parent company," he said.

Global exchange-traded fund assets have increased by 13.9% from $1.35 trillion to $1.54 trillion year-to-date, through the end of July 2012.

With a new head of research on board, Lipper announced a new set of initiatives for the second half of 2012 that involves building out research and analytical tools.

Fixed income ETPs now account for 18% of global ETP assets, up from 7% in 2007 at the onset of the financial crisis, according to BlackRock. Bond ETPs garnered a 35% share of industry flows in the first seven months of 2012, according to a BlackRock report on the fixed income ETP landscape. …

Risk parity has become a popular allocation and risk management strategy in recent years. Do you know enough about it to provide guidance to your clients?