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Fundamentals: The Glad Game
November 23, 2010--Last month we used the term “Pollyanna” to describe the optimistic return scenarios that need to occur for institutions and plan participants to cover their liabilities. The term originated with the 1913 children’s book of the same title by Eleanor Porter.
In it, the young Pollyanna
plays the “Glad Game” where one
finds something to be glad about in
any situation. As an orphan growing
up with a strict aunt, Pollyanna finds
a reason to be optimistic even as she
faces obstacle after obstacle in her
new surroundings.
Investors today would do well to play a bit of the Glad Game. Despite a world of low single-digit yields and high single-digit return targets, there are ways that investors can span this seemingly irreconcilable gap.
Dow Jones Indexes Announces Latest Performance Data For The U.S. Venture Capital Index
November 23, 2010-- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider and a CME Group company, today announced the latest performance data for the Dow Jones U.S. Venture Capital Index. The index is designed to measure changes in the market value of venture capital-financed companies in the United States.
At the end of the second quarter 2010, the index value was 1,183.211, down 18.29% from December 31, 2009. According to Sand Hill Econometrics, which co-developed the index’s methodology, there were two factors behind the decline. One is several “disappointing exits”?—?companies that failed or were acquired for low values. The other is the general decline in equity values during the quarter?—?the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index fell 11.52% during the second quarter of 2010. As Sand Hill notes, VC is not immune to a drop in equity values and the stock market is an indicator of equity values overall.
“We are pleased to present the latest index performance results,” said Susan Woodward, an economist and the founder of Sand Hill Econometrics. “Year-to-date we have a drop in values, with most of that decline in the second quarter. However, venture values are up 57% from the trough in February 2009, confirming that venture capital is here to stay,” noted Woodward.
Minutes Of The Federal Open Market Committee, October 15 And November 2-3, 2010
November 23, 2010--The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on November 2-3, 2010 and of the conference call held on October 15, 2010. A summary of economic projections made by Federal Reserve Board members and Reserve Bank presidents for the November 2-3, 2010 meeting is also included as an addendum to these minutes.
The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee ordinarily are made available three weeks after the day of the policy decision and subsequently are published in the Board's Annual Report. Summaries of economic projections are released on an approximately quarterly schedule. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these minutes and in the Summary of Economic Projections are based solely on the information that was available to the Committee at the time of the meeting.
view Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee-October 15 and November 2-3, 2010
ProShares Announces Zero Capital Gain Distributions for ETFs
November 23, 2010--ProShares, the leading manager of leveraged and inverse ETFs¹, announced today that it estimates that none of its 99 equity and fixed-income ETFs will pay any 2010 capital gain distributions.
“A goal of ProShares is to provide investors with opportunities to manage risk and seek returns while also providing them with tax efficiency,” said Michael L. Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC. “As a result, we are pleased to announce that we expect no capital gain distributions this year.”
Estimates of capital gain distributions are subject to change. Capital gain distribution and income dividend amounts will vary from year to year. The estimate is for informational purposes only. For specific tax advice, we recommend that investors seek advice from a qualified tax professional. ProShares plans to provide information about any fourth quarter income dividends separately.
Statement on Support of Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Authority to Designate Financial Market Utilities as Systemically Important
Chairman Gary Gensler
November 23, 2010-- support the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on the Authority to Designate Financial Market Utilities as Systematically Important. It is an important step in fulfilling the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act to ensure that there is robust oversight and risk management of financial market utilities including clearinghouses.
Clearinghouses in the futures markets have been around since the late-19th Century and have functioned both in clear skies and during stormy times – through the Great Depression, numerous bank failures, two world wars and the 2008 financial crisis – to lower risk to the American public. By standing between two counterparties, by valuing transactions daily, requiring collateral, and rigorous risk management standards, clearinghouses help ensure that the failure of one entity does not harm its counterparties and reverberate throughout the financial system. Comprehensive and robust regulatory oversight of clearinghouses, however, is essential to our country’s financial stability. This is particularly important since, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, standardized swaps between financial entities must be brought to clearinghouses.
Horizons AlphaPro Launches Canada's First Actively Managed Preferred Share ETF
November 23, 2010--AlphaPro Management Inc. ("AlphaPro"), manager of the Horizons AlphaPro exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), has launched Canada's first actively managed preferred share ETF, the Horizons AlphaPro Preferred Share ETF (the "Preferred Share ETF").
The Preferred Share ETF will begin trading today on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol HPR. The sub-advisor to the Preferred Share ETF is Natcan Investment Management Inc. ("Natcan"), which currently manages more than $1 billion dollars in preferred share assets.
"We're very happy to be working with Natcan once again. Their fixed income team has done a great job in managing the recently launched Horizons AlphaPro Corporate Bond ETF, Canada's largest actively managed ETF. We expect more of the same with the Preferred Share ETF based on our belief that an active strategy can overcome many of the limitations found in trying to replicate a preferred share index," said Ken McCord, President of AlphaPro.
The investment objective of the Preferred Share ETF is to provide dividend income while preserving capital by investing primarily in preferred shares of Canadian companies. The Preferred Share ETF may also invest in preferred shares of companies located in the United States, fixed income securities of Canadian and U.S. issuers, including other income generating securities, as well as Canadian equity securities and exchange traded funds that issue index participation units. The Preferred Share ETF will, to the best of its ability, seek to hedge its non-Canadian dollar currency exposure to the Canadian dollar at all times.
iShares files with the SEC
November 23, 2010--iShares has files a post effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for
iShares FTSE China (HK Listed) Index Fund.
view filing
Morgan Stanley Exchange-Traded Funds: US ETF Weekly Update
November 22, 2010--Highlights
Weekly Flows: $3.7 Billion Net Outflows
ETFsTraded $342 Billion Last Week
No ETF Launches
Guggenheim BulletShares’Indexes Undergo Changes
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Largest Flows by Individual ETF
iSharesRussell 1000 Value (IWD) posted net inflows of $564 mlnlast week, the most of any ETF
On the contrary, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), was a drag on flows, posting $3.1 blnnet outflows
Despite its weak showing last week, over 13-wk period, SPY has taken in most new money ($10.1 bln)
US-Listed ETFs: ETF Dollar Volume
Market share of monthly ETF volume as % of listed volume has doubled over 5 yrs
Leveraged/Inverse accounts for 12% weekly ETF volume, but only has 3% of market cap
Fixed Income accounts for only 4% weekly ETF volume, but has 15% of market cap
Credit Suisse files with the SEC
November 22, 2010--Credit Suise has filed a FORM 424(B)(2) with the SEC for VelocityShares ETNs.
view filing
Eaton Vance Corp. Announces Asset Purchase of Managed ETFs LLC
Acquires Intellectual Property relating to Exchange-Traded Fund Operations and Trading
November 22, 2010--Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE: EV) announces today that it has purchased the assets of Managed ETFs LLC, a developer of intellectual property in the field of exchange-traded funds. Managed ETFs holds intellectual property assets, including issued patents, that could provide the foundation for more efficient trading of index-based ETFs and facilitate the development of non-transparent, actively managed ETFs.
Commercialization of the acquired technology is subject to the approval of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and market acceptance.Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
"Eaton Vance is pleased to acquire the intellectual property of Managed ETFs and to assume responsibility for its commercial development," said Thomas E. Faust Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Facilitating more robust ETF trading and expanding the scope of the ETF market to encompass non-transparent, active strategies is a vision we share with the principals of Managed ETFs."
Huntington files with the SEC
November 19, 2010--Huntington Strategy Shares has filed a registration statement with the SEC for
Rotating Strategy Fund
EcoLogical Strategy Fund and
Equity Protection Strategy Fund
Russell files with the SEC
November 22, 2010--Russell has filed a amended and restated application for exemptive relief with the SEC.
read more
BlackRock(R) Canada Launches the iShares(R) S&P(R)/TSX(R) North American Preferred Stock Index Fund (CAD-Hedged)
ETF to Invest in U.S. and Canadian Securities
November 22, 2010--BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc., today announced that iShares, the world's largest provider of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), is now providing investors with a new income-oriented product, featuring a consistent distribution schedule, with the launch of the iShares S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index Fund (CAD-Hedged) (XPF). XPF will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today.
XPF will provide investors with geographically diversified exposure to preferred shares by investing a portion of its assets in U.S. preferred shares and a portion in Canadian preferred shares. Preferred stock is an asset class that combines some characteristics of both equity and debt securities and generally makes regular payments to investors. XPF will hedge its currency exposure to the U.S. dollar, and carry a management fee of 0.45% per year.
CBOE Futures Exchange Posts Weekly Record Trading Volume in VIX Futures for Third Time This Month
Volume Tops 210,000 Contracts Over Five Trading Days
November 22, 2010--The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) announced that the week of November 15 was the busiest week on record for the trading of futures on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX).
The three most active weeks in CFE history for the trading of VIX futures have occurred during the first three weeks of November. The 210,995 VIX futures contracts that traded the week of November 15 now ranks as the highest, followed by the previous highs of 171,988 contracts for the week of November 1 and 170,196 contracts for the week of November 8.
SAM And Dow Jones Indexes Launch DJSI World Enlarged Index
New Index Caters To Market Demand for a Broader Sustainability Investing Universe-Further Expansion of Pioneering Sustainability Index Family
Index Subset Allows for Exclusion of Certain Sectors
November 22, 2010--SAM, the investment boutique focused exclusively on sustainability investing, and Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the creation of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Enlarged Index (DJSI World Enlarged).
The new index will be launched on November 30, 2010, and is designed to accommodate increasing investor demand for a broader sustainability benchmark. As such, the DJSI World Enlarged tracks the performance of the most sustainable 20% of companies out of the largest 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index.
In keeping with all Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, the components for the DJSI World Enlarged are selected according to SAM’s systematic Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which analyzes company performance in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. The new index has 513 components, is reviewed on an annual basis, and is weighted according to free float market capitalization. Additionally, there will be a subset index of 459 components that excludes companies from the following sectors: tobacco, alcohol, gambling, armament and firearms, and adult entertainment.
