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BlackRock Completes Merger With Barclays Global Investors
Includes the Market-Leading iShares Exchange Traded Funds Business
$3.2 Trillion Managed for Institutional and Retail Clients Globally
Adds Varley and Diamond to Board of Directors
December 1, 2009--BlackRock, Inc. today announced that it has completed its merger with Barclays Global Investors ("BGI"), including the market-leading iShares exchange traded funds business. The combined firm will operate under the BlackRock name and the iShares brand will be retained.
"Since this transaction was announced in early June, BlackRock and BGI employees have demonstrated their commitment to serving clients and delivering competitive investment results. Both firms maintained strong core business momentum while achieving the close of an unprecedented merger in less than six months, commented Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
"Beginning today, we move forward as one global firm, operating independently, focused solely on investment and risk management on behalf of our clients. We manage approximately $3.2 trillion on behalf of institutional and retail investors worldwide. We offer truly differentiated capabilities - active, enhanced and index products - and the most talented professionals, able to identify investment opportunities, develop innovative investment solutions, and capture the benefits of scale for clients."
Additions to Board of Directors
In connection with the closing of the merger, BlackRock also announced that John Varley, Group Chief Executive of Barclays PLC, and Robert E. Diamond Jr., President of Barclays PLC, have joined the BlackRock Board of Directors.
Source: BlackRock
Ecopetrol Listing on the Lima Stock Exchange
December 1, 2009-Ecopetrol S.A. announces that in coming days investors will be able to trade the Company's American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") on the Lima Stock Exchange (the 'BVL'). The ADRs that will be traded are the same instruments which were listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2008. The listing of the ADRs on the BVL is not a new issuance of stock and will not generate additional funds for Ecopetrol.
The ADRs are being registered in accordance with Article 15 of Resolution No. 125-98-EF/94.10 of the Comision Nacional Supervisora de Empresas y Valores del Peru (CONASEV), which sets forth the requirements for listing foreign securities on the BVL. Pursuant to these requirements, Stock Broker Agencies ("SABs") may request the listing of foreign securities. With respect to the listing of Ecopetrol's ADRs, GPI Valores SAB, the Peruvian stock broker agent for Global Securities Colombia, requested the Ecopetrol ADR listing with CONASEV and the BVL.
For Ecopetrol, entering the BVL (one of the most dynamic and important international capital markets) is a milestone in the Company's capital markets positioning strategy and will booster the Company's presence in Peru, one of the local countries forming part of the Company's growth and internationalization strategy.
Ecopetrol began operations in Peru in 2007 through its affiliate, Ecopetrol del Peru S.A., which currently holds five exploratory blocks in the country. In January 2009, Ecopetrol acquired 50% of Offshore International Group (OIG), which is the parent company of Petrotech Peruana S.A. ("Petrotech"). Petrotech has a strategic exploratory position on the coast of Peru, with nine exploratory blocks and a production of 14,200 barrels per day.
Source: Ecopetrol S.A.
Vanguard's First Active ETF Would Seek Inflation Protection
November 30, 2009-The Vanguard Group is seeking a regulatory exemption that would permit its Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX) to issue a class of exchange-traded shares.
If granted, the exemption would create Vanguard's first actively managed ETF.
Vanguard first proposed the ETF to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007, but at that time it had proposed revealing only a portion of the ETF's holdings. In a filing last week, however, it proposed an ETF that would be fully transparent.
"We've had a lot of demand, a lot of interest," said Ken Volpert, principal, senior portfolio manager and head of the taxable bond group at Vanguard. "So we've taken a look at what would be the issue with being more fully transparent, and we think we can keep all the value and make it available to more investors."
Like the existing Inflation-Protected Securities Fund, which Volpert co-manages, the ETF would invest most of its assets in Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. While the fund uses the Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities Index as a benchmark, its average maturity and mix of bonds may differ from those in the index.
"We're trying to do a lot of little things that add value," said Volpert. "We have a huge tailwind expense-ratio advantage, so we start the year with a big advantage, and if we can then add a bit of incremental value by doing a lot of different strategies, it makes the fund very compelling."
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Source: WSJ.com
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
November 20, 2009--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Monday, November 30, 2009:
The shares of International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (TSXVN:ITH) will be removed from the index.
The company will graduate to trade on TSX under the same ticker symbol.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Source: Standard & Poors
China Consumer ETF to Debut in N.Y., Global X Says
November 30, 2009-- The first exchange-traded fund linked to Chinese consumer companies will begin trading in New York tomorrow as the world’s third-biggest economy boosts domestic demand, said Global X Management Company LLC.
“The next wave of global growth is going to come from developing a consumer base in China,” Bruno del Ama, the New York-based chief executive officer of asset manager Global X, said in a phone interview.
The ETF, which includes sportswear maker Li Ning Co., Tsingtao Brewery Co. and department-store operator Golden Eagle Retail Group Ltd., aims to lure global investors to China’s consumer market, Del Ama said.
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Source: Bloomberg
Newedge Group Hires ETF Traders From Macquarie, Van der Moolen
November 30, 2009--Newedge Group, the brokerage joint venture of Societe Generale SA and Credit Agricole SA’s Calyon unit, has hired three exchange-traded fund traders in New York, according to Bill Ahmuty, head of U.S. ETF sales and trading.
Briton Ryan, an ETF trader from Macquarie Group Ltd., Matt Koop, director of ETF trading at Van der Moolen Holding NV, and Kevin Nichols, a former Morgan Stanley trader and Dow Jones & Co. columnist, are based in New York, Ahmuty said. They’ll report to Ahmuty, who was hired in July from Morgan Stanley, where he was head of U.S. ETF trading.
“Not only are the number of ETFs growing but the number and type of clients who use them is also expanding,” Ahmuty said in an interview today. “They’re transparent so you can get prices easily, and you can move in and out of them quickly.”
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Source: Bloomberg
Try DRIPing exchange-traded funds
November 27, 2009--One of the secrets of building wealth with individual stocks is to reinvest dividends through dividend reinvestment plans, or "DRIPs." Apart from being commission-free, DRIPing provides investment discipline, like dollar cost averaging with mutual funds. When markets are down, you automatically acquire cheaper units.
But what about DRIPing exchange-traded funds or ETFs?
"DRIPs are a relatively new introduction within the ETF arena," says Patricia Lovett-Reid, senior vice-president of TD Waterhouse Canada, which offers DRIP options to clients through its discount brokerage arm. "Not all ETF issuers offer it while mutual fund and stock DRIPS have been around for decades."
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Source: National Post
Claymore to close 4 ETFs
November 27, 2009-- Claymore, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) sponsor with ETF assets exceeding $2.5 billion*, announced today that it intends to close and liquidate four lightly followed ETFs. The combined assets of these ETFs represent less than 0.70%* of its total ETF assets.
“We have taken a reflective review of our current product lineup and after careful evaluation, we feel that these changes are in the best interest of shareholders,” said Christian Magoon, President of Claymore Securities, Inc. “We will continue to assess the needs of investors and launch products where the potential for marketplace appeal exists.”
December 11, 2009 will be the last day of trading for Claymore/ Morningstar Manufacturing Super Sector Index ETF, Claymore/Morningstar Information Super Sector Index ETF, Claymore/Morningstar Services Super Sector Index ETF, and Claymore U.S.-1 – The Capital Markets Index ETF (together, the “Funds”) on the NYSE Arca. Effective that day, the Funds will be closed to new investments through creation activity. The NYSE Arca will halt trading in the Funds before the open of trading on December 14, 2009.
Shareholders may sell their Fund shares prior to December 14, 2009. It is anticipated that transactions executed prior to December 14, 2009 will be subject to the fees normally assessed by broker-dealers for such transactions. From December 14, 2009 through December 18, 2009, shareholders may be able to sell their shares to certain broker-dealers, but there can be no assurance that there will be a market for the Funds. All shareholders remaining on December 18, 2009, will receive a cash distribution into their brokerage account representing the value of their shares as of that date, which will also include any capital gains and dividends.
For additional information, shareholders in these ETFs may call their financial advisor or Claymore at 888-949-3837.
Source: Claymore Securities
Vanguard files with SEC
November 27, 2009-Vanguard has filed for exemptive relief with the SEC.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
DB Index Research -- Weekly ETF Reports -- US
November 25, 2009--Highlights
TF Volume
US ETF turnover declined by 3% to US$68.3bn in the previous week. Turnover in the S&P 500 SPDR ("Spider") was US$21.5bn. The PowerShares QQQ Nasdaq 100 had turnover of US$4.5bn followed by the iShares Russell 2000 with turnover of US$4.0bn.
There were six new ETFs launched in the last week. BGI launched 1 new ETF on NYSE Arca and 1 on NASDAQ Stock Exchange. Index IQ, First Trust Ad, United States Commodity Funds LLC and PowerShares each launched one new ETF on NYSE Arca.
In the previous week, average daily turnover in the Large Cap, US Sector Leveraged and global regional products was US$28.0bn (-3.5%), US$10.2bn (-3.6%), US$9.9bn (-2.2%) and US$5.3bn (-0.9%) respectively.
Among the Emerging country ETFs, iShares MSCI Brazil ETF turnover was US$1,421m followed by iShares FTSE/Xinhua China ETF with turnover of US$971m. In non-US developed market flows, iShares MSCI Japan had turnover of US$256m. In non-domestic regional flows, emerging market turnover was US$4.0bn and developed markets regional flows EAFE had turnover of US$1.1bn.
Assets under Management (AUM)
Total assets under management for equity based ETFs declined by 1.3% in the previous week, AUM were US$576.9bn. See page 8 for largest changes in fund shares.
To request a copy of the report
Source: Aram Flores and Shan Lan -DB Index Research