Independent broker-dealers generated double-digit revenue growth in 2014, and a broker-dealer- related exchange traded fund is outperforming in the financial space so far this year.

BrokerDealer.com database is the global financial industry’s leading source of BrokerDealer information, with detailed information on thousands of BDs in upwards of 30 countries worldwide.

Over the past three months, the iShares US Broker-Dealers ETF (NYSEArca: IAI), which tracks U.S. investment banks, discount brokerages and stock exchanges, has increased 7.8%, compared to the 2.5% gain in the broader Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLF). Year-to-date, IAI was up 0.7% while XLF dipped 1.5%.

The 25 largest independent broker-dealers generated a 10.3% year-over-year rise in revenue over 2014, reports Bruce Kelly for InvestmentNews.

Top independent broker-dealers include LPL Financial LLC (NYSE: LPLA), which garnered $4.3 billion in revenue, and Raymond James Financial Services (NYSE: RJF), which added $1.6 billion. IAI includes a 3.4% tilt toward LPLA and a 4.7% weight in RJF.

The industry is experiencing an increase in fees. Revenue from investment products and services that charge a fee instead of a commission rose 20% in 2014 among the top 25 independent broker-dealers, mirroring a growing trend in the services industry.

For the full article from ETFtrends.com, please click here

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BrokerDealer.com blog post courtesy of extract from ETFTrends.com and Tom Lydon

Give the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ) some credit.

The largest exchange traded fund tracking Brazilian equities rose nearly 1.4% Monday, although volume was light, despite news that President Dilma Rousseff improved her showing in a recent poll.

Teneo Intelligence notes that “Rousseff’s approval rating has actually increased from 34 to 38% – a level that tends to auger very well for incumbents a couple of months before elections,” reports Dimitra DeFotis for Barron’s.

Financial markets have overtly displayed a preference for any candidate not named Rousseff ahead of Brazil’s October elections, typically pushing EWZ noticeably higher on days when polls are released showing waning support for the incumbent. That trend was bucked Monday when EWZ gained despite news of increased support for Rousseff. 

[What's Bad for Rousseff is Good for Brazil ETFs]

EWZ and other Brazil ETFS gained Monday because there is more than meets the eye to the aforementioned poll showing increased support for Rousseff. Marina Silva, the candidate replacing Eduardo Campos who dies in a plane crash last week, has drawn nearly even Senator Aecio Neves. Campos was polling at around 8% prior to his death and news of his passing prompted a noticeable intraday sell-off in EWZ last Wednesday. [Brazil ETF Tumbles on News of Campos Crash]

Importantly, Silva could push Rousseff to a run-off and she “would command 47 percent of the vote in the second round, compared with 43 percent for Rousseff, a difference that falls just within the plus or minus 2 percentage point margin of error in a Datafolha poll published Monday, report Anna Edgerton and Raymond Colitt forBloomberg.

A run-off can be averted only if one of the candidates garners more first round votes than the other two candidates combined.

EWZ is up 18.4% year-to-date, making it the second-best performer of the four major single-country BRIC ETFs behind the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSEArca: EPI).

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