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ETF of PSUs set for launch in a month
January 10, 2014--Soon investors can boast of a portfolio consisting of shares of 11 blue-chip Central Public Sector Enterprises without any risk considerations.
An empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) under the chairmanship of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has approved the composition of the Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded Fund (CPSE-ETF).
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Source: The Hindu Business LIne
IRDA clears investments in exchange traded funds by insurers
January 10, 2014--The insurance regulator has said that it will allow insurance companies to invest in exchange traded funds (ETFs) and has come out with draft guidelines for such investments.
The move gains significance considering that the government plans to transfer shares in public sector companies to ETFs to achieve its disinvestment target.
"The authority is in receipt of representations to allow insurance companies to invest in equity exchange traded funds," said a circular from IRDA, explaining the rationale for issuing draft guidelines' for allowing insurance companies to invest in ETFs. The regulator has said that equity ETFs shall come under current exposure norms applicable to investment in mutual funds (MFs) by insurance companies.
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Source: The Times of India
Nikko Asset to Appoint Chairman Shibata as New Chief Exec
Shibata Orchestrated Nomura's Global Strategy With 2008 Acquisition of Lehman Brothers
January 9, 2014--Nikko Asset Management is to appoint its current chairman and former Nomura Holdings Inc. executive as its chief executive and president amid growing market expectations that Japan's No. 3 asset manager will go ahead with a long-awaited initial public offering this year.
Nikko Asset said Friday that Takumi Shibata, its current chairman, will succeed Charles Beazley, the chief executive, effective immediately, handing Mr. Shibata more power in shaping and implementing the firm's business strategy.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
2 JPX-Nikkei Index 400 ETFs to be Listed on Jan. 28, 2014 (Tue.)
January 8, 2014--Today, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) approved the listings of ETFs managed by "Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd." and "Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd." The 2 ETFs will be listed on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. These are the first listings of ETFs tracking the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 in Japan.
Mr. Toshihiro Iwasaki, Chairman & CEO of Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd. said, " We are highly honored that the listing for “NEXT FUNDS JPX-Nikkei Index 400 Exchange Traded Fund" has been approved by Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). “JPX-Nikkei Index 400”, referred by the ETF, is a new index in that it selects stocks from TSE listed companies, considering ROE and management’s perspective of investors and so on. We hope that the ETF would be widely utilized by investors as a new tool for Japanese equity investment as well as would like to contribute to the Japanese stock market by providing the ETF linked to the index selecting stocks based on profitability and engagement with corporate governance."
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Source: TSE
Govt to finalise components of public sector ETFs on Jan 10
January 8, 2014--An empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) will meet on Friday to finalise the composition of the Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded Fund.
An exchange traded fund is just like a mutual fund scheme. It tracks an index and is traded on a stock exchange. Its constituent stocks are listed and actively traded. Here investors get the benefit of constituent shares without directly owning it.
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Source: Hindu Business Line
China to require new disclosures by systemically important banks
China bank regulator implements global rules pushed by G20
All banks above 1.6 trillion yuan in assets must disclose
Twelve indicators track size, connectedness, complexity
New window into off-balance-sheet exposures
January 8, 2014--China's bank regulator will require the country's
largest lenders to disclose their off-balance-sheet exposures and other indicators in a move to implement global rules designed to strengthen regulation of "too-big-to-fail" banks.
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Source: Reuters
Asia Pacific Equity Market Outlook
January 7, 2014--2013 was a year in which central banks played an extraordinary role in influencing the global markets. The start of the year was marked by an unprecedented loose monetary policy by the Bank of Japan, mirroring the actions of the U.S., triggering sharp depreciation of the Japanese Yen and strong outperformance of the Nikkei index.
In mid-year, domestic demand led economies with current account deficits, such as India and Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) countries, were challenged on fears of tapering of the U.S. Federal Reserve's QE program. China continued to experience sharp volatility between fears of a hard landing and optimism for reforms led by the new leadership.
Following the strong performance of developed markets in 2013, Asia has been trading at a historically high discount. We believe the valuation gap will narrow throughout 2014 as investors become more confident in the Asian growth story through higher visibility in China's transition towards a market economy and a growth revival in India and Indonesia through progressive leadership after the elections.
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Source: Mirae Asset Financial Group
China in Focus
January 7, 2014--AFTER A YEAR OF FEAR, DOUBT AND HOPE, market consensus for China's 2014 GDP growth has converged towards the mid 7% level, similar to that of 2013. This can be interpreted that the market has ratcheted down its expectations of what was once high growth to a more modest, but still healthy, level. China's economic data from the past several months suggest that the economy has stabilized and inflation has been maintained at a manageable level.
At the same time, positive developments in recent months on the reform front suggest that the government is focused on, and making progress with, rebalancing its economy to achieve a more sustainable and higher-quality growth trajectory.
The main difference we expect to see in China's economic growth in 2014 compared to 2013 is the mix of growth drivers. In 2013, fixed asset investment growth remained strong, mainly driven by infrastructure and property investment. Consumption growth has been stable while export growth was relatively weak. However, based on signals from the Third Plenum Session, in 2014, we expect contributions from fixed asset invest¬ments to gradually weaken as no major government investment is expected. Consumption is likely to expand at a stable pace of low to mid-teen levels and exports will improve compared to 2013 levels as the overall global economic recovery continues.
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Source: Mirae Asset Financial Group
China's Shadow Banking Problem
January 7, 2014--China’s top officials appear to be moving to address the risks posed by a fast-growing-but-shadowy part of the country's financial system. The Chinese cabinet is seeking to increase government oversight of lending by companies that currently face little or no supervision, according to news reports based on an official document that was written last month.
Economists have long worried about China's so-called shadow banking system, in which banks and finance companies loan money to businesses and local governments at high interest rates outside the regulated financial system. Analysts worry that unregulated lenders, which themselves borrow money from regulated banks, have made too many dubious loans that could default and set off a broader financial crisis. In recent months, interest rates in China have surged from time to time in part because of the links between the unregulated and regulated parts of the financial system.
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Soure: New York Times
Rough ride for Mainland ETFs
January 6, 2014--Mainland ETF sponsors have been speeding up product launches in order to garner a greater share of the market.
This trend was highlighted by the fact that the total number of newly-isted ETFs grew from 12 in 2012 to 34 by the end of last year, according to statistics from Wind Information.
Of these, 26 of the IPO rookies were A-share equity-tracking ETFs and three were commodity-linked ETFs - including the country's first batch of gold ETFs-the HuaAn Gold ETF,the Guotai Gold ETF, and the E Fund Gold ETF.
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Soure: ETFIAsia.com