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Australian ETF Review-BetaShares Australian ETF Review-February 2019
March 13, 2019--During February, the Australian ETF industry set a new record, with its largest every monthly funds under management increase. The industry ended the month at a record $44.8B, with market cap increasing by 5.4% (+$2.3B).
With markets rebounding, the industry growth this month came primarily from price increases, which accounted for ˜80% of the monthly result-the remaining ˜20% being due to net inflows of ˜$524m
International equities were once again the category with the greatest level of inflows, followed by Australian Bonds and Cash
From a performance perspective, given the tremendous rebound in their equity market, Chinese exposures performed most strongly
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Source: BetaShares
The Future of China's Bond Market
March 13, 2019--Summary:
China's bond market is destined to play an increasingly important role, both at home and abroad. And the inclusion of the country's bonds in global indexes will be a milestone for its financial market integration, bringing big opportunities as well as challenges for policymakers and investors alike.
This calls for a good understanding of China's bond market structure, its unique characteristics, and areas where reforms are needed. This volume comprehensively analyzes the different segments of China's bond market, from sovereign, policy bank, and credit bonds, to the rapidly growing local government bond market. It also covers bond futures, green bonds, and asset-backed securities, as well as China's offshore market, which has played a major role in onshore market development.
view the The Future of China's Bond Market
Source: IMF
IMF Staff Concludes 2019 Article IV Mission to Korea
March 12, 2019--Korea is facing short-and medium-term headwinds to growth, which requires policy action.
Fiscal policy needs to become more expansionary through a substantial supplementary budget, and monetary policy should be clearly accommodative.
The government should continue to implement structural reforms to support growth, including by reducing regulations in the services sector.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team led by Tarhan Feyzioglu visited Seoul during February 27-March 12 to conduct discussions for the 2019 Article IV Consultation. Mr. Feyzioglu issued the following statement at the conclusion of its visit:
"Korea's economy has strong fundamentals. The country has a skilled labor force, strong manufacturing base, a stable financial system, low public debt, and ample foreign exchange reserves. Per-capita income recently exceeded thirty-thousand dollars. These achievements are a testament to Korea’s strong public institutions and generally prudent macroeconomic management.
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Source: IMF
IMF Staff Country Report-Malaysia: Selected Issues
March 11, 2019--CORPORATE SAVING IN MALAYSIA
A. Introduction
1. IMF analysis suggests that Malaysia's current account (CA) surplus is higher than
warranted by medium-term fundamentals and desired policies. National income account data up to 2015 suggest that private non-financial corporations could be a significant contributor to the
CA surplus, followed by private financial firms.
Given the importance of private non-financial corporations in Malaysia's national saving, staff undertook an analysis of saving to understand the
history and identify the drivers.
view the IMF Staff Country Report-Malaysia: Selected Issues
Source: IMF
Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the Caucasus
March 11, 2019--Story Highlights
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects are expected to cut trade costs and enhance foreign investment in Central Asia and South Caucasus countries.
A key issue for countries is how to maximize BRI benefits and minimize risks of unsustainable debt, and environmental and social costs.
Analysis of BRI projects is difficult because no comprehensive dataset exists with project costs, financing terms, and other conditions.
The massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plans to build roads, railways, seaports and other trade infrastructure in dozens of countries in the Eurasian continent. The BRI aims to connect Asia to Europe, and the initiative has steadily expanded economic corridors and projects as far as Africa.
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Source: World Bank
Funds likely to launch commodity derivatives schemes by early FY20
March 11, 2019--The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will amend the Mutual Fund Amendment Regulations of 2018 and the Portfolio Management Amendment Regulations 2016 enabling mutual funds and portfolio managers to participate in the agri and non-agri commodity derivatives segment (CDS) within a month.
The regulator will then notify the same after intimating the finance ministry, a person aware of the development told ET. Sebi approved MF and PMSes' participation at its board meet on March 1.
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Source: The Economic Times of India
HKEX to launch futures contracts for MSCI China share index
March 11, 2019-- Global index publisher MSCI and the Hong Kong stock exchange said on Monday they will launch futures contracts on the MSCI China A Index to provide a hedging tool as international investor interest in Chinese mainland shares surges.
The license agreement between MSCI and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX), which will launch the new product, comes less than two weeks after MSCI announced it would quadruple the weighting of Chinese shares in its global benchmarks later this year.
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Source: Reuters
ASX Investment Products Monthly Update-February 2019
March 8, 2019--February 2019 saw growth in Assets under Management in ETPs (up 5.2%), mFunds (up 4.7%), and A-REITs (up 4.0%) and Infrastructure Funds (up 5.2%) and a decline in Assets Under Management in LICs & LITs (down 0.4%) on a month on month basis.
Total Assets Under Management of all Investment Products increased by 3.8% over the month of February 2019, from 289.12bn at 31 January 2019 to 300.20bn at 28 February 2019.
view the ASX Investment Product Summary-February 2019
Source: ASX
IMF Working Paper-China's Evolving Exchange Rate Regime
March 7, 2019--Summary:
China's exchange rate regime has undergone gradual reform since the move away from a fixed exchange rate in 2005. The renminbi has become more flexible over time but is still carefully managed, and depth and liquidity in the onshore FX market is relatively low compared to other countries with de jure floating currencies.
Allowing a greater role for market forces within the existing regime, and greater two-way flexibility of the exchange rate, are important steps to build on the progress already made. This should be complemented by further steps to develop the FX market, improve FX risk management, and modernize the monetary policy framework.
view the IMF Working Paper-China's Evolving Exchange Rate Regime
Source: IMF
BetaShares-Market Trends: March 2019
March 6, 2019--Major Asset Classes*-Oz equities shine
Australian equities were the best performing of our seven major asset classes in February, with good gains across several sectors. Relief that the Hayne Royal Commission report recommendations were not as bad as feared for banks helped the financial sector, while growing talk of lower local interest rates, stronger commodity prices and the weaker $A helped both consumer and resource stocks.
Global stocks also continued their "V-shaped" recovery from late last year, helped by growing hopes with regards to US-China trade talks and dovish rhetoric from the US Federal Reserve. While a range of global growth indicators have slowed, overall growth is still holding up-especially in the US.
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Source: BetaShares