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SEC Chairman Schapiro Announces Open Process for Regulatory Reform Rulemaking
July 27, 2010--Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Schapiro today announced that the agency is making it easier for the public to provide comments as the agency sets out to make rules required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Under a new process, the public will be able to comment before the agency even proposes its regulatory reform rules and amendments. Additionally, the SEC will provide greater public disclosure of meetings with SEC staff.
The new process goes well beyond what is legally required and will provide expanded opportunity for public comment and greater transparency and accountability. The SEC also expects to hold public hearings on selected topics.
"It has not even been a week since the President signed the regulatory reform legislation into law, but at the SEC we are already working to fully implement the dozens of studies and rulemakings required of our agency," said Chairman Schapiro. "We recognize that the process of establishing regulations works best when all stakeholders are engaged and contribute their combined talents and experiences. We look forward to preliminary public comments in these areas."
The SEC is generally required by law to establish a public comment period at the time it proposes rules or rule amendments. However, because of the significant rulemaking envisioned under the new regulatory reform law, the public will have an opportunity to voice its views before rules or amendments are even proposed as well as to see what others are saying to the agency about these issues.
view Public Comment Page for SEC Initiatives Under Dodd-Frank Act
SEC Publishes Public Request for Comment to Inform Study of Obligations of Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers
July 27, 2010-- The Securities and Exchange Commission today published a request for public comment to inform its study of the obligations and standards of care of broker-dealers and investment advisers providing personalized investment advice about securities to retail investors.
The study is required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which President Obama signed into law on July 21, 2010.
As required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC is requesting public input, comments, and data on issues related to the effectiveness of existing standards of care for brokers-dealers and investment advisers, and whether there are gaps, shortcomings, or overlaps in the current legal or regulatory standards.
"Broker-dealers and investment advisers provide critical financial services to millions of American investors," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. "A system that fairly and effectively regulates these market participants is essential to protecting investors. We look forward to receiving comments from the public on these important issues."
The public comment period will remain open for 30 days, following publication of the comment request in the Federal Register.
view SEC release requesting comment
Knight Capital Group Announces Acquisition of Astor Asset Management
Acquisition totaling approximately $20 million will add asset management capabilities to Knight's offering
July 27, 2010--Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: KCG) today announced that it has agreed to acquire Astor Asset Management, LLC, a money management firm specializing in macro-economic strategy and ETF portfolio construction, for approximately $20 million in cash and stock, based on assets under management at the close.
"Astor Asset Management has undergone rapid growth by providing active management and diversification across sectors and asset classes at a relatively low expense ratio using ETFs," said Thomas M. Joyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Knight Capital Group. "Astor assets under management in the separately managed accounts and new mutual fund have increased substantially in the past few years. I believe we can help Astor get to the next level while creating a foundation for asset management that contributes stable, recurring revenues to Knight."
Founded by Managing Partner Robert N. Stein in 2001, Astor Asset Management seeks to identify fundamental economic shifts in order to provide retail and institutional investors with capital appreciation while managing risk in diverse market conditions. The firm utilizes proprietary macro-economic models to construct portfolios of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which are offered through advisors within separately-managed accounts (SMAs) and the Astor Long/Short ETF Mutual Fund. Based in Chicago, Ill., Astor is a registered investment advisor with the SEC. The firm has 13 employees and approximately $560 million in assets under management.
"I'm excited by the growth potential for Astor as a part of Knight, considering the firm's longstanding relationships with the leading wirehouses and broker-dealers," said Stein. "Backed by the resources and infrastructure of Knight, I believe we'll be able to provide an even higher level of client service while adding to the product offering. My colleagues at Astor and I look forward to continued success at Knight."
The terms of the agreement include a four-year employment contract for Mr. Stein. The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and Astor Asset Management advisory client approval. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2010 and accretive to Knight's earnings per share in 2011. Upon the close of the acquisition, Astor Asset Management, LLC will operate as a wholly-owned operating subsidiary of Knight Capital Group.
The advisors to Knight on the transaction are Kirkland & Ellis LLP and K&L Gates LLP. The advisors to Astor Asset Management are Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP and Thompson Hine LLP.
Brazil Financials ETF to Trade in New York, Global X Says
July 27, 2010--The first Brazilian exchange-traded fund tracking financial shares will begin trading in New York on July 29, said the chief executive officer of Global X Management Company LLC, the asset manager overseeing the fund.
The ETF will track the Solactive Brazil Financial Index of 25 companies, including Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Banco Bradesco SA and Banco do Brasil SA.
Global X Funds Post Record Trading Volumes
July 27, 2010--Global X Funds Lithium ETF traded more than 450,000 shares on its opening day Friday, July 23, 2010, making it one of the most successful ETF launches this year. Other Global X ETFs posted significant volumes on the same day, including Global X China Consumer ETF (CHIQ) which hit a record volume of over a million shares.
Global X Funds is one of the fastest growing ETF companies, currently managing $336.9 million in assets. Over the last two weeks alone, there have been 88 creation units across the China Consumer (CHIQ), China Materials ETF (CHIM), China Financials ETF (CHIX), Colombia ETF (GXG), Silver Miners ETF (SIL), Brazil Mid Cap ETF (BRAZ), and the newly issued Lithium ETF (LIT). Creation units are created by large institutional investors called Authorized Participants. In general creation units consist of 50,000 shares. This represents an aggregate inflow of $76.8 million into the fund family over the last two weeks.
"We are committed to bringing innovative and relevant products to market, facilitating access to the most attractive segments across the global markets" said Bruno del Ama, CEO of Global X Funds.
July 2010 “Islamic Market’s Measure” Preliminary Report - Monthly Report On The Performance Of The Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes
Based on the close of trading on July 26, the global Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which measures the performance of 100 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks globally, gained 7.45% month-to-date, closing at 1972.62. In comparison, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the 50 biggest companies worldwide, posted a gain of 7.87%, closing at 159.24.
The Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in the Asia/Pacific region, increased 5.87%, closing at 1812.99. The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index, in comparison, posted a gain of 4.84%, closing at 126.67.
Measuring Europe, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of the 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in Europe, closed at 1905.04, a gain of 8.13%, while the conventional Dow Jones Europe Index gained 11.58%, closing at 241.90.
Measuring the performance of 50 of the largest Shari’ah compliant U.S. stocks, the Dow Jones Islamic Market U.S. Titans 50 Index increased, closing at 2017.36. It represents a gain of 7.47%. The U.S. blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 7.69%, closing at 10525.43.
Claymore files with the SEC
July 26, 2010--Claymore has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for
Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond ETF
Ticker Symbol: GIY
Guggenheim Enhanced Ultra-Short Bond ETF
Ticker Symbol: GSY
read more
Emerging Markets Week in Review -7/19/2010 - 7/23/2010
July 26, 2010--The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Composite Index climbed 3.65% as all sectors were positive for the week.
Materials led the market by increasing 6.22% in the sector's best week since April 3rd, followed by Energy which was up 3.76%. Consumer Goods and Utilities were the worst performers, increasing by 1.60% and 1.97% respectively.
WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI) Passes $1 Billion In Assets Under Management
July 26, 2010--WisdomTree an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) sponsor and asset manager, announced today that the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI) surpassed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM), as of July 21, 2010.
EPI, the Industry’s first India ETF which launched on February 22, 2008, is the largest and most actively traded exchange-traded product (ETP) providing access to local Indian securities.
“We are pleased with the success of EPI and remain committed to opening up asset classes and investment strategies which were previously difficult for regular investors to access,” said Bruce Lavine, WisdomTree President & COO.
Jeremy Schwartz, WisdomTree’s Director of Research commented, “India has distinguished itself as the best-performing BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) country in 2010. One reason for this separation is that India’s economy is less export driven than China, Russia and Brazil, and the attractive demographics of its billion plus population has proved more resilient and less dependant on global growth.”
Exchange-Traded Funds: US ETF Weekly Update-Morgan Stanley
June 26, 2010--Highlights
Weekly Flows: $3.8 Billion Net Inflows
ETFsTraded $352 Billion Last Week
Launches: 3 New ETFs
ETFs had net cash inflows of $3.8 blnlast; 3rdweek in a row of net inflows
Weekly flows driven by US-equity ETFs; 9 out of top 10 ETFs to post net inflows were based off US indexes
Despite positive week for ETF industry flows, 2 largest ETFs posted net outflows (SPY & GLD)
Fixed Income ETFscontinue to experience strong net inflows
$26.0 bln of net inflows into ETFs over past 13 wks; Fixed Income accounts for 45% of net new money
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Largest Flows by Individual ETF
IWM has the largest net inflows for US ETFs at $922 million last week
Over 13-week period GLD generated largest net inflows of any ETF, at $6.3 bln
VWO & EEM continue to lead emerging market flows, at $4.8 blnand $3.3 blnrespectively, over 13 weeks
Fundamentals: The Style Roulette
July 26, 2010--Suppose we had perfect foresight and could determine whether the market was going to be biased toward value or growth every year. If so, we could make tactical bets instead of just splitting our equities evenly between the two styles. How much in excess return would we earn? In the real world, how much of that return is picked up by Fundamental Index® strategies? The answers are surprising.
The first half of 2010 has been a
roller coaster ride in global equity
markets. The S&P 500 Index and
MSCI All Country World Index
posted gains of 5.4% and 3.2%,
respectively, in the first quarter.
But, as we’ve been suggesting for
some months, the consequences of
a global addiction to debt-financed
consumption—sovereign, corporate,
and household—started to take their
toll in the second quarter, with the
S&P 500 declining 11.4% and the
MSCI All Country World falling
12.0% in U.S. dollar terms. Adding
to this ride, value and growth styles
have been flip-flopping in past
years. If the current narrow value
outperformance experienced in
the first half of the year holds, 2010
will mark the fifth straight calendar
year in which style leadership has
shifted between growth and value.
FTSE and CNBC create new index series for Asia Pacific
July 26, 2010--FTSE Group, the award winning global index provider and CNBC, recognised global leader in business news, today announced the creation of a new index series to track the performance of the 100 largest companies in Asia Pacific.
The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index calculated using FTSE’s renowned global index standards, will feature on CNBC news programmes giving investors a unique insight into the blue chip investable Asian market. The new index can also be licensed as the basis for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), structured products, derivatives or as a performance benchmark.
In addition to the broad based FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index, specialised country and industry indices will be available for investors who want deeper analysis of the key drivers of performance. The indices are based on the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB), a comprehensive, transparent and definitive classification system used by investors and exchanges worldwide. The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index is the latest index venture by FTSE and CNBC, following on from the FTSE CNBC Global 300 and FTSE CNBC Global 300 Supersectors launched in 2006. A full list of the new Asia Pacific indices is available in the appendix.
“By creating this index series, CNBC is able to provide viewers with one quantifiable measure of how Asian businesses are performing across the region,” said John Casey, Vice President, News and Programming, CNBC Asia Pacific. “During such volatile times, Asia has increasingly become a key market to watch. The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index will enhance investors’ knowledge by showing them a glimpse of broad market performance regionally in both developed and emerging markets while keeping them abreast of the global business environment.”
Paul Hoff, Managing Director of Asia Pacific, FTSE Group said: “Extending our collaboration with CNBC reflects the shifting focus of global investors towards Asia. These indices draw on the expertise FTSE and CNBC are known for in financial markets to provide investors with a deep understanding of the broader macroeconomic trends in Asia, while affording unique detailed insights into market drivers based on country and industry specifics.”
The FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index features the hallmarks in index design that FTSE is renowned for including transparent index rules, governance procedures, liquidity screens and free float adjustment. For more information on the FTSE CNBC Asia 100 Index or other indices including the FTSE CNBC Global 300 and FTSE CNBC Supersector indices, please visit www.ftse.com/cnbc.
Dow Jones Indexes Enhances Index Methodology
July 26, 2010--Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced enhancements to the methodology of the Dow Jones Global and U.S. Total Stock Market indexes as well as the Dow Jones Global Index.
Effective with the open of trading on September 20, offshore-companies with a primary listing on a U.S. stock exchange will be eligible to be included in the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index. This modification addresses the consequences of a change in U.S. tax law, whereby a number of offshore-companies with a primary U.S. listing decided to transfer their domicile of incorporation to other financial centres such as Ireland and Switzerland.
Previously, the companies were included in the index of the country to which they transferred their incorporation. As a result, the indexes tracking those countries' markets no longer provided an accurate measure of local equities trading because of the inclusion of non-local companies.
Also effective with the open of trading on September 20, companies that are listed on the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ), a trading board of the Korea Exchange (KRX) in South Korea, will be eligible to be included in the Dow Jones Global and Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market indexes. Currently, Dow Jones Indexes includes stocks from the Korea Stock Exchange, the stock market division of KRX. As of July 16, 2010, there are 966 companies listed on KOSDAQ, which will be screened for inclusion. These companies have a free-float market capitalization of approximately $41 billion.
The Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index provides comprehensive coverage of the world's equity markets with a consistent rules-based methodology. The Dow Jones Global Index family is a comprehensive global index series designed to provide a complete range of portfolio-management and benchmarking tools.
Included in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index universe are common shares and other securities with the characteristics of common equities from countries that provide accessibility to nonresidents and availability of real-time and historical market data. To produce the investable securities universe, the equities included in the broad market are screened to exclude securities without readily available prices. Companies that survive this analysis have their shares outstanding adjusted for "float," which is those shares readily available for trading by investors.
The Dow Jones Global Index universe is defined as all equity securities in 51 countries. The Dow Jones Global Index family covers only those countries that are accessible to nonresidents and that provide access to real-time and historical market data. Eligible for selection are all equity securities that trade on the major exchanges of these countries, screened for liquidity (no more than ten non-trading days in the three months prior to selection). For Emerging Market countries with significant barriers to direct foreign investment, Dow Jones Indexes may opt to include in the indexes those issues directly listed on U.S. exchanges, such as Depository Receipts (DRs) and other types of offshore listings.
July 2010 Monthly Preliminary Performance Report Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes
July 26, 2010--The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index was up 3.30% for the month of July. The Dow Jones-UBS Single Commodity Indexes for Wheat, Sugar and Lead had the strongest gains with month-to-date returns of 24.15%, 13.70%, and 12.83%, respectively. The three most significant downside performing single commodity indexes were Gold, Silver and Natural Gas, which were down -4.67%, -3.24%, and -1.91% respectively, in July.
Year to date, the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index is down -6.67% with the Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Sub-Index posting the highest gain of 17.69% so far in 2010. Dow Jones-UBS Sugar Sub-Index has the most significant downside YTD performance, down -32.34%.
NASDAQ Announces Mid-month Open Short Interest Positions In NASDAQ Stocks As Of Settlement Date July 15, 2010
July 26, 2010--At the end of the settlement date of July 15, 2010, short interest in 2,410 NASDAQ Global Market(SM)securities totaled 7,097,589,765 shares compared with 7,040,374,238 shares in 2,417 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of June 30, 2010. The mid-July short interest represents 2.98 days average daily NASDAQ Global Market share volume for the reporting period, compared with 3.67 days for the prior reporting period.
Short interest in 496 securities on The NASDAQ Capital Market(SM)totaled 325,248,913 shares at the end of the settlement date of July 15, 2010 compared with 351,632,659 shares in 492 securities for the previous reporting period. This represents 3.10 days average daily volume, compared with the previous reporting period's figure of 4.50.
In summary, short interest in all 2,906 NASDAQ(R) securities totaled 7,422,838,678 shares at the July 15, 2010 settlement date, compared with 2,909 issues and 7,392,006,897 shares at the end of the previous reporting period. This is 2.99 days average daily volume, compared with an average of 3.70 days for the previous reporting period.
The open short interest positions reported for each NASDAQ security reflect the total number of shares sold short by all broker/dealers regardless of their exchange affiliations. A short sale is generally understood to mean the sale of a security that the seller does not own or any sale that is consummated by the delivery of a security borrowed by or for the account of the seller.
For more information on NASDAQ Short interest positions, including publication dates, visit http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/MasterDataEntry.asp?page=ShortInterest or http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/asp/short_interest.asp.
