PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio (NYSE: BKLN): An Alternative High-Income Investment You've Probably Never Heard Of

Wall Street is famous for creating new products. Sometimes, these products prove to be disastrous, like derivatives on subprime mortgages were in 2008. At other times, new products turn out to be beneficial to individual investors. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are an example of a Wall Street innovation that helped individual investors.

Assets in ETFs topped $1.6 trillion in October, and individual investors have more than 1,250 funds to invest in.

The vast number of ETFs serves two purposes. First, a large number of investment options provides individual investors with an opportunity to diversify their portfolio. Second, it provides a way for fund sponsors to maximize their potential revenue by having products that appeal to almost all investors.  (more)

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