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FTSE Xinhua Quarterly Index Review Results
Huatai Securities (A) to be added to FTSE/Xinhua China A 50 Index
No change to FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index
July 7, 2010--, FTSE Xinhua Index (FXI) today announces the results of its quarterly index review. In the FTSE/Xinhua China A50 Index, which forms the basis of the world’s largest Chinese themed ETF, Huatai Securities (A Share, 601688) will replace Poly Real Estate Group (A Share, 600048).
Other changes were also approved for the FTSE Xinhua B 35, FTSE Xinhua 200, 400, Small Cap and Regional indices. Full details of the additions and deletions in the FTSE Xinhua Index Series can be found here. All the changes will take effect from Monday 19 July, 2010.
The FTSE Xinhua Index Series is reviewed quarterly in January, April, July and October by an independent index committee, comprising of local and international financial market experts in accordance with the index ground rules. The reviews ensure that the indices accurately reflect the markets they represent. This is essential as the indices are used to benchmark investment portfolios and as the basis of index-linked products.
The index series is widely regarded as the leading measure of the Chinese market by domestic and international investors. The FTSE/Xinhua China 25 and FTSE/Xinhua China A50 are used as the underlying indices for the largest Chinese themed ETFs globally with total assets at nearly USD 14 billion as at 1 July 2010.
More information about the FTSE Xinhua Index Series is available at www.ftsexinhua.com.
Source: FTSE
- FTSE RAFI Emerging Index Adopted by Daiwa Emerging Equity Fund
July 6, 2010--FTSE Group, the award-winning global index provider, has announced that its FTSE RAFI Emerging Index will be adopted by Daiwa Asset Management for an emerging market index fund being launched today. The Daiwa fund will be offered as a defined contribution (DC) pension investment option and will be the first to track the FTSE RAFI Emerging Index in Japan.
The FTSE RAFI® Emerging Index is part of FTSE Group’s range of investment strategy indices. Developed by FTSE and Research Affiliates (RAFI), the index selects and weights constituents using four fundamental factors - dividends, cash flow, sales and book value - rather than market capitalisation. The index is designed to provide investors with a tool to enable investment in emerging markets whilst using a fundamental weightings methodology.
Mr. Hiroyuki Nitta, General Manager of Daiwa Asset Management said, “By working with FTSE to jointly develop an innovative fundamental index fund for emerging equity markets, it’s with great pleasure that we are to be able to offer a broader investment choice to investors who participate in DC pension plans.”
Paul Hoff, Managing Director, FTSE Asia Pacific Business Development added, “Institutional investors globally have shown significant interest in non-market cap index strategies. FTSE is proud to be working closely with an industry leader, Daiwa Asset Management, to provide investors with a first-ever opportunity to access emerging markets via the fundamentally weighted FTSE RAFI Emerging Index.”
Source: FTSE
ETFs tough to White Label
July 6, 2010--Following the rising interest in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in Australia, some financial planning groups are considering having their own branded ETFs - but that could be hard to do in practice due to structural issues, according to one ETF expert.
Tom Keenan, director at iShares in Australia, said many financial planning dealer groups are seeking to white label an ETF - just as they've white labelled other fund products including structured products and managed accounts.
Keenan said, however, white labelling ETFs is nearly impossible because each ETF requires its own separate listing on the ASX, which then requires additional market makers to generate liquidity.
"It's something that's never going to happen. It's needs its own code on the ASX and the market makers and liquidity is compromised because you would have very small activity on that one ETF," he said.
read more
Source: Financial Standard
Barclays in talks with China fund managers on ETFs
"The next step will be working with asset managers to develop the products, and we are in discussions with some local asset managers," Waqas Samad, Head of Index, Portfolio and Risk Solutions of Barclays Capital, told reporters in Shanghai.
read more FSA and SEC held the sixth meeting of the “FSA-SEC High-Level Dialogue In the Dialogue, taking into account the current developments of securities markets in Japan and the U.S., the FSA and the SEC discussed various issues including regulatory reform, enhancement of cooperation on enforcement and supervision, and developments surrounding accounting standards and auditing. Through the Dialogue, the two organizations further deepened their cooperative relationship. Daiwa buys KBC capital markets unit
The Japanese group expects the combined businesses, which comprise an average 2 per cent of KBC’s net profits, to generate operating revenue of about Y15bn ($170m) a year.
read more Listing of the Fruit of Gold series of four brands in Tokyo
The listing of the Fruit of Gold series on the TSE enables Japanese institutional and retail investors to access the benefits of physical precious metals securely, efficiently and cost effectively.
Commenting on the launch, Atsushi Saito, CEO, TSE said:
"The Japanese investors have easier access to precious metals with the listing of Fruit of Gold series. We are pleased to have the precious metal physical ETF structured in Japan for the first time and welcome it in the market. We hope that the TSE will contribute to the further expansion of the Japanese financial market by acting as the core exchange in Asia. In this context, we feel it is significant that these ETF's are listed on the TSE."
Aram Shishmanian, CEO of the World Gold Council, added:
"The addition of another gold ETF, with the option of physical gold delivery, is a welcome development. This Japanese-led product will give fund managers and consumers the confidence to hold gold as a way of diversifying the Japanese pension market, which is primarily held in bank deposit accounts."
"Investment demand for gold has risen steadily over the last decade and continues to be the fastest growing category of global gold demand. Investors worldwide have come to recognize that portfolios which contain even a small allocation to gold are proven to be generally more robust, particularly in the context of continued economic and market uncertainty. The World Gold Council is actively working with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation and other financial institutions to ensure that gold's risk diversification properties are more widely understood." Chinese fall triggers regional decline
Tuesday’s figures from the Conference Board, a US-based research group, and Thursday’s purchasing managers’ index data for manufacturing both showed slowing growth in China. read more ETF trading grew 33% in SGX Meanwhile, the number of ETFs available in SGX stood at 72 and it includes the four ETFs from Deutsche Bank listed this week. This makes SGX the second highest among Asian exchanges in terms of ETF offerings.
read more Greenback suffers as buyers back yen
Meanwhile, the dollar’s haven appeal was undercut as US manufacturing activity and home sales data came in weaker than expected, raising concerns about a double-dip recession in the world’s largest economy. read more If you are looking for a particuliar article and can not find it, please feel free to contact us for assistace.
July 5, 2010-- Barclays Capital is in talks with several Chinese fund managers to develop cross-border exchange-traded funds to be listed on the Shanghai bourse as China seeks to widen channels for its growing yuan savings.
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays Bank Plc
ETFs are index funds that trade just like stocks on major stock exchanges.
Source: Reuters
July 5, 2010--On June 29,2010,the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) held a meeting of the “FSA-SEC High-Level Dialogues (Dialogue)” in Washington D.C., the sixth of the bilateral dialogue held on a regular basis. The Dialogue was led by the FSA Commissioner Mikuniya and the SEC Chairman Schapiro and attended by other senior staff members from both organizations.
The fifth meeting was held in Tokyo on June 15, 2009.
Source: FSA.go.jp
July 5, 2010--Daiwa Capital Markets, the investment banking unit of Daiwa Securities, is set to pay $1bn for KBC’s global convertible bond and Asian equity derivatives businesses, in an effort to globalise further.
Daiwa is paying about $200m for those and other assets and about $800m for the Belgian bank’s trading positions in those businesses, taking on about 150 staff in the process.
Source: FT,com
July 2, 2010--Today, four Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) of the Fruit of Gold series (gold, platinum, silver and palladium) have commenced trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).
With Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation as the trustee, each security is backed by physical allocated precious metal for the benefit of Fruit of Gold shareholders. The ETFs are based upon the futures price at Tokyo Commodity Exchange and calculated into the spot physical price for gold, platinum, silver or palladium The underlying physical metals are stored by Mitsubishi Corporation acting as custodian.
This will be the first time that physical metals allocated to an ETF will be vaulted locally in Japan.
Source: Tokyo Stock Exchange
July 2, 2010--Chinese equities’ biggest weekly drop for 16 months drove stocks in the region lower as growth fears suppressed any appetite for risk among investors.
The Shanghai Composite tumbled 6.7 per cent to 2,382.90 over the week as a slew of data highlighted the success of Beijing’s policy moves to cool its economy.
Source: FT.com
July 1, 2010--Trading of exchange traded funds or ETFs in the Singapore Exchange grew 33 per cent in its current financial year.
The growing popularity among investors also saw the number of ETFs doubled in the SGX.
The active trading of ETFs in SGX caused its turnover to hit about $5 billion in the year to June 30.
Source: Channel News Asia
July 1, 2010--The yen surged to its highest level against the dollar so far this year as worries about the health of the global economy boosted haven demand for the Japanese currency.
Weaker-than-expected Chinese activity data yesterday combined with more weakness in global equities to heighten risk aversion and support the yen.
Source: FT.com
