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Finra Fines Stifel Financial in ETF Case
Two Brokerage Units Sold Products That Were Inappropriate for the Investors
January 9, 2014--Two Stifel Financial Corp. brokerage units were ordered by the industry's self-regulator to pay more than $1 million in fines and restitution for selling leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds that were unsuitable for the investors.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. fined Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. and Century Securities Associates Inc., both based in St. Louis, Mo., a combined $550,000. They also were ordered to pay about $475,000 in restitution to 65 customers who lost money on the ETFs, purchased between January 2009 and June 2013.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
ChinaAMC appointed sub-advisor to Market Vectors China A-Share ETF
Physical A-share exposure provided by China's largest mutual fund management company
January 8, 2014--Van Eck Associates Corporation has entered into an agreement with China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited ("ChinaAMC"), through which ChinaAMC has begun serving as sub-advisor for the Market Vectors(R) ChinaAMC A-Share ETF, it was announced today.
ChinaAMC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Asset Management Co., Ltd., China's largest management company in terms of mutual fund assets under management, and it has received its Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor ("RQFII") quota, which will allow PEK to have direct exposure to physical China A-shares, providing investors with enhanced access to the Chinese equity markets.
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Source: Van Eck
Emerging Global Advisors And The TCW Group Partner To Launch Emerging Market Investment-Grade Bond Exchange-Traded Funds
January 8, 2014--– Emerging Global Advisors (EGA), the asset manager to the EGShares exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering, and The TCW Group (TCW), a global asset management firm,today announced their partnership to launch a suite of Emerging Market (EM) fixed income ETFs.
The EGShares TCW EM Short Term Investment Grade Bond ETF (Ticker: SEMF, the EGShares TCW EM Intermediate Term Investment Grade Bond ETF (Ticker: IEMF) and the EGShares TCW EM Long Term Investment Grade Bond ETF (Ticker: LEMF) are the industry's first suite of EM fixed income ETFs to provide duration-defined exposure to USD-denominated, investment grade emerging market sovereign and corporate bonds.All three funds are advised by EGA, sub-advised by TCW and track custom indices created and monitored by J.P. Morgan.
The partnership brings together EGA, an industry leader in emerging market ETFs through its EGShares funds, and TCW, a premier emerging market fixed income asset manager, to provide investors with better tools with which to target emerging market fixed income growth opportunities. The funds will be managed by Penelope D. Foley and David I. Robbins,Group Managing Directors of Emerging Markets Strategies at TCW.
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Source: TCW Group
Minutes Of The Federal Open Market Committee, December 17,18, 2013
January 8, 2014--The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on December 17-18, 2013. A summary of economic projections made by Federal Reserve Board members and Reserve Bank presidents for the 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 a 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 the Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee
December 17-18, 2013
Source; FBR
State Street Teaming With MFS to Open Active Equity ETFs
January 8, 2014--State Street Corp. (STT), the second-biggest provider of exchange-traded funds, plans to introduce its first actively managed stock ETFs in partnership with MFS Investment Management.
The three funds, the SPDR MFS Systematic Core Equity ETF (SYE), Growth Equity ETF and Value Equity ETF (SYV), will open tomorrow on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a statement yesterday from NYSE Euronext.
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Source: Bloomberg
BlackRock Agrees to End Wall Street Analysis Previews
January 8, 2014--BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, has agreed to end its practice of surveying Wall Street analysts to glean clues about their views on companies before those opinions are publicly issued.
The decision was reached late Wednesday as part of a settlement with Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general. The settlement document filed in the case contended that BlackRock’s surveys "allowed it to obtain information from analysts that could reveal forthcoming revisions to their published views" on companies they followed. The firm will also pay $400,000 to cover costs of the investigation.
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Source: The New York Times
Senate to quiz US regulators on Wall St commodity bets
Hearing on banks and commodities set for Jan. 15
Top officials from FERC, Fed and CFTC will appear
Alleged aluminum manipulation to be back in focus
January 8, 2014--A Senate panel will hold a hearing next week to question financial regulators over Wall Street's role in physical commodity markets, drawing fresh attention to a controversy over the possible risks posed by the involvement of the largest U.S. investment banks.
The Jan. 15 hearing by a subcommittee of the powerful Senate Banking Committee is to include testimony by top oversight officials with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and an official from the Federal Reserve's banking supervision arm.
The hearing, the second called by Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, comes as the Fed reconsiders exemptions given to banks since the early 2000s that allow them to engage in the previously prohibited trading of physical commodities.
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Source: Reuters
CBO-Monthly Budget Review for December 2013
January 8, 2014--The federal government ran a budget deficit of $182 billion for the first three months of fiscal year 2014, CBO estimates, $111 billion less than the shortfall recorded in first three months of last year.
Revenues are higher and outlays are lower than they were at the same point in fiscal year 2013.
view the CBO Monthly Budget Review for December 2013
Source: Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
BlueStar Launches New Technology Index; BIGI Undergoes Rebalance
January 8, 2014--BlueStar Indexes, a provider of Israel focused investment research, announced the launch of its second index, the BlueStar Israel Global Technology Index("BIGTech") .
BIGTech provides a benchmark for investors to track Israeli and Israel linked technology companies trading worldwide. Like the methodology for BlueStar's flagship product, the BlueStar Israel Global Index ("BIGI"), BIGTech's methodology allow's for the inclusion of Israeli companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and other exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange.
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Source: BlueStar Global Investors
Invesco makes a big push into alternatives
Six new liquid alternatives funds are part of firm's effort to help advisers handle risk
January 7, 2014--Invesco has launched six new liquid alternatives mutual funds in the past month, more than doubling its total number of such funds as it makes a big push into the fast growing space.
"A large part of our conversations with advisers is around risk mitigation, risk management and finding uncorrelated assets," said Andrew Schlossberg, head of U.S. retail distribution and global ETFs. "It's a big topic. We see it as a long-term topic of discussion with advisers."
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Source: Investment News
