Americas ETP News
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Merk Insight: This Time is Different. Really?!
February 13, 2018--"Don't panic, buy the dip, who cares?" or "These are rumblings of an earthquake, people will be hurt like in 1929"-which one is it? I would call it a wake-up call. Let me explain:
In recent years, markets had appeared eerily "safe". Central banks promised to do "whatever it takes", provided "forward guidance" to keep rates low, even printed money to buy government debt, calling it "quantitative easing."
Sure enough, volatility has been low, valuations have risen. Now, just as the fellow from the cartoon above, many might have thought something isn't quite right. As a result, many investors have been looking to buy some insurance, protection, just in case this goldilocks environment doesn't last forever. For those who have looked for ways to protect against a decline, they likely noticed that it had been rather expensive. Indeed, we had come to the conclusion some time ago that it may be more prudent for many investors to hold more cash rather than hold risk assets on the one hand, but then, say, buy put options in addition. However, cash in a 0% interest rate environment is not sexy (and holding cash a recipe for professional investors to lose client assets), causing many investors to have come up with ever more creative ways to "diversify."
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Source: Merk Investments
Vanguard Reinforces Commitment to Low-Cost Investing by Lowering Fee on Canadian Fixed Income ETF
ebruary 13, 2018--Management fee on Vanguard Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF (VAB) reduced from 0.12% to 0.08%
Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. announced today that it has lowered the management fee on one of its largest fixed income ETFs, by four basis points from 0.12% to 0.08%.
"Vanguard's mission is to give investors the best chance for investment success and part of that commitment is to lower the cost of investing for all Canadians," said Atul Tiwari, managing director for Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. "As we have recently seen, fixed income ETFs can play a key role as a stabilizing force in a portfolio, particularly during times of stock market volatility, and we are pleased investors will receive a fee reduction in one of our largest ETFs."
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Source: Vanguard
Trump Administration Proposes Fees for Futures Industry
February 13, 2018-The levies, which would be used to boost funding of CFTC, are opposed by industry, agency
The White House on Monday proposed levying fees on derivatives users to bolster the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's 2019 budget, an idea that may be dead on arrival because of industry opposition.
Moreover, leaders at the CFTC also are opposed to the funding idea.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
ETF News from The FORUM-Why Stocks Can Cope with Higher Rates Why Stocks Can Cope with Higher Rates
February 12, 2018--Stocks are down dramatically so far this month, and major index-tracking ETFs such as the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) dipped into correction territory, traditionally defined as a decline of 10% or more from the recent highs. The culprit is the recent spike in interest rates.
Ten-year US Treasuries have risen to 2.85%, their highest point in four years (Figure 1), thanks primarily to the strong U.S. economy, where low unemployment and rising wages signal the possible return of inflation. Add to this news that the federal deficit is pushing towards $1 trillion for fiscal 2018, up from $666 in fiscal 2017, and it is no wonder that interest rates are up!
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Source: AltaVista Research
In 12b-1 Fee Crackdown, SEC Urges Advisors to Police Themselves
February 12, 2018--Advisors who self-report share class violations and repay investors, will not be hit with a financial penalty
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that its enforcement division has launched an initiative designed to protect investment advisors from financial penalties if they self-report certain mutual fund share-class violations and return the money to harmed investors.<>view more
Source: thinkadvisor.com
AdvisorShares Weekly Market Review-Volatility Is Back in Town and It's Angry
February 12, 2018--Highlights of the Week Ending 2/9/2018
Macro
It's official, the equity market is in the middle of a panic. You can find a lot of pixels devoted to explaining why the market went down, or at least trying to explain what happened.
It could have been the unraveling of the short volatility trade, the Wall Street Journal blamed risk parity later in the week, rising rates are always relevant, perhaps increased deficits (soon to be 5% of GDP?) were to blame? Or maybe the market went down because it stopped going up, which is to say it might have been no reason at all that sent the market down.
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Source: AdvisorShares
iSTOXX American Century USA Quality Value Index to underlie exchange-traded fund in the US
February 12, 2018--STOXX Ltd., the operator of Deutsche Boerse Group's index business, and a global provider of innovative and tradable index concepts, licensed its iSTOXX(R) American Century USA Quality Value Index to American Century Investments as an underlying for an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
"Our goal with the launch of American Century(R) ETFs is to provide innovative strategies that strive to deliver better outcomes for investors," said Ed Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Head of ETFs for American Century. "We are excited to be launching our first two ETFs, which we see as ‘core’ investments that can serve as a central, foundational component of a long-term portfolio."
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Source: Deutsche Börse Group
AGF Announces Launch of AGFiQ Enhanced Global ESG Factors ETF and AGFiQ Enhanced Global Infrastructure ETF
February 12, 2018--Expands AGFiQ factor-based ETF suite to provide differentiated access to two growth areas
February 12, 2018--AGF Investments Inc. (AGF) today, through AGFiQ Asset Management (AGFiQ), announced the launch of two new ETFs: AGFiQ Enhanced Global ESG Factors ETF (QEF) and AGFiQ Enhanced Global Infrastructure ETF (QIF).
Both QIF and QEF begin trading on the NEO Exchange today and each have a management fee of 0.45%.
"Our new ETFs utilize the expertise of our in-house AGFiQ team and their quantitative, factor-based investment process, while providing investors with differentiated access to two growing segments of the market often reserved for the largest institutions-ESG and Infrastructure-to build their global equity portfolios," said Kevin McCreadie, President and Chief Investment Officer, AGF Investments Inc.
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Source: AGFiQ Asset Management
ETF Securities makes 11 employees redundant ahead of acquisition by WisdomTree
February 12, 2018--ETF Securities has made 11 employees redundant ahead of its acquisition by WisdomTree in order to reflect the new strategic direction of the business, but chief executive Mark Weeks remains with the group.
The move comes after WisdomTree Investments announced the purchase of ETF Securities' European exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business for $611m in November, with the deal expected to complete by the end of Q1 2018, subject to regulatory approval.
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Source: professionaladviser.com
Deutsche Bank Sanctioned for Misleading Buyers on Bond Sales
February 12, 2018--Lender agrees to pay $4.5 million to settle SEC's allegations
Bank's former CMBS head trader Ben Solomon also sued by agency
Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay about $4.5 million to settle a U.S. regulator's allegations that it misled clients about how much bonds backed by commercial mortgages were worth, earning the lender bigger profits than it should have made.
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Source: Bloomberg
