The Markets March 8, 2010

ETFs Fared Well in February

State Street’s latest ETF Snapshot report reveals assets in the U.S. exchange-traded-fund (ETF) industry totaled $752 billion as of February 28—up $21.5 billion or 2.9% during the month.
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All 13 categories gained in absolute terms, according to the report. The size category accounted for 43% of the $21.5 billion gained overall.

By style, large cap had the largest gain in assets, climbing $6.7 billion, followed by small cap, up $1.7 billion. Gains were spread evenly among nine of the 10 sectors for a cumulative gain of $3.4 billion.

The top three managers in the U.S. ETF marketplace in February were BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors (State Street), and Vanguard. Collectively, they accounted for approximately 83.8% of the U.S.-listed ETF market.

The top three U.S. ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], PowerShares QQQ [QQQQ], and iShares Russell 2000 [IWM].

More information is available at www.spdrs.com.

Products March 8, 2010

Genworth Offers Retirement Book for Advisers

Genworth Financial Wealth Management (GFWM), a division of Genworth Financial, Inc., said its new book, “Crossing the Sea,” helps its advisers illustrate the retirement journey to their clients.
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Genworth said the story describes “two couples’ journey across the sea to retirement,” each using a different approach. One couple is “sailing,” or hoping the wind will blow in the right direction, and the other couple is “rowing,” or taking a risk-averse approach. Ultimately, the moral of the story is to illustrate that a combination of sailing and rowing result in “a less stressful journey,” Genworth said.

Genworth intends for the story to be a conversation-starter about how investors think about risk and volatility. The book, free for GFWM Advisors, is available online (www.genworthwealth.com/crossingthesea.html) or in customizable hard copy by contacting Genworth.

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