Wealth management

WisdomTree Investments Inc. introduced a dividend-weighted, exchange-traded fund Friday.

First Citizens Securities Corp., the brokerage arm of First Citizens Bank and Trust Co. Inc. of Columbia, S.C., introduced a unified managed account platform Thursday.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Corp. announced it has agreed to buy LightPoint Capital Management LLC of Chicago, a leveraged loan investment specialist.

Lincoln Financial Group of Philadelphia added two term life insurance products to its unified product portfolio.

Heartland Financial USA Inc. of Dubuque, Iowa, has an aggressive goal for its wealth management businesses: to bring their assets under management to $3.1 billion, the banking company's current overall asset total.

Manulife Investments Inc. of Toronto is consolidating its mutual fund lineup.

Bank Investment Consultant

Vontobel Asset Management, the New York investment management unit of Switzerland's Vontobel Holding AG, has outsourced its back-office investment operations to Northern Trust Corp. of Chicago.

American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. said its second-quarter annuity sales rose 20% from a year earlier, to $622.5 million.

Legg Mason Inc., a Baltimore wealth manager, has launched two separately managed account products.

Managers Investment Group LLC, a Chicago subsidiary of Affiliated Managers Group Inc. of Prides Crossing, Mass., has hired Keitha Kinne as a managing partner and chief operating officer.

Claymore Securities Inc., a Lisle, Ill., investment manager, introduced two international exchange-traded funds Wednesday.

Mackenzie Financial Corp., a Toronto unit of IGM Financial Inc., introduced two global mutual funds.

Mellon Equity Associates, a Pittsburgh investment subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., launched its Extended Alpha Large Cap Core strategy, a 130/30 equity product designed to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500 index through the use of short sales.

Northern Trust Corp. has hired Peter Cherecwich, an executive from State Street Corp. to run the Chicago company's institutional strategy and product development.

New York Life Insurance Co. announced Tuesday that it has promoted Gary Scofield to senior vice president and chief actuary.

John Hancock Financial Services Inc. announced that it has opened the John Hancock Global Opportunities Fund to retail investors.

From professional athletes to musicians to doctors and lawyers, bank-owned private wealth management firms have long been successful targeting wealthy niche markets.

ING Group Inc.'s U.S. insurance group named X. Rick Niu an executive vice president and chief growth officer on Monday.