Portfolio

ETF assets rose 7.2% in March to $806 billion, according to data from State Street.

NEW YORK -- Asset managers looking for creative new ways to profit during the global recovery have been launching a wave of exchange-traded products that aim to help portfolio managers and sophisticated investors increase their exposure to alternative investments and small-capital stocks.

They've been derided by Warren Buffett and feared by regulators, but some advisers are convincing clients that derivatives are helpful.

After target-date funds took massive losses in 2008-most notably, those with a near-term retirement date that were supposed to protect investors' money-many on Wall Street expected target-date investors to move their savings elsewhere.

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Dreyfus has launched the Dreyfus Dynamic Alternatives Fund, a mutual fund designed to provide exposure to a range of hedge fund returns.

Eaton Vance Management has launched the Eaton Vance Commodity Strategy Fund, which will take long and short positions in fixed income instruments, including derivatives, with the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return Index as its benchmark.

Eaton Vance Management has launched the Eaton Vance Commodity Strategy Fund, which will take long and short positions in fixed income instruments, including derivatives, with the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return Index as its benchmark.

Charles Schwab is encouraging people receiving tax refunds to resist the temptation to use the money for impulse purchases, but, rather, to use the money for long-term financial goals, especially retirement, and paying down high-interest debt.