Europe ETF News for the Past Year
ECB-Meeting of 17-18 July 2024-Account of the monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank
August 22, 2024--Held in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday and Thursday, 17-18 July 2024
1. Review of financial, economic and monetary developments and policy options
Financial market developments
Ms Schnabel noted that since the Governing Council's previous monetary policy meeting on 5-6 June 2024, financial markets had moved in response to political news, which had caused some volatility, and in response to weaker than expected US inflation data.
The announcement of snap elections in France had dented investors' risk appetite and the rally in euro area risk asset markets. However, the resulting rise in volatility in some market segments had remained contained and short-lived, without signs of systemic stress or fragmentation. Risk premia had risen only modestly, and the euro exchange rate had recovered quickly.
Macroeconomic news had been muted, with small negative macroeconomic surprises in both the euro area and the United States. Expectations regarding ECB policy rates had remained broadly unchanged amid some volatility following the elections for the European Parliament, but had edged lower after the release of US consumer price index (CPI) data. Euro area financial conditions had also remained broadly unchanged, with continued benign market conditions. The absorption of the net issuance of government bonds had continued to proceed smoothly as investor demand remained strong.
view more
Source: ECB
ESMA publishes translations of its Guidelines on funds' names
August 21, 2024--The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today published the translations in all official EU languages of its Guidelines on funds' names using ESG or sustainability-related terms.
The Guidelines will start applying three months after this publication, i.e. on 21 November 2024.
Within two months of the date of publication of the Guidelines, i.e. on 21 October 2024, national competent authorities must notify ESMA whether they (i) comply, (ii) do not comply, but intend to comply, or (iii) do not comply and do not intend to comply with the guidelines.
view more
Source: ESMA
Bitwise Takes Over ETC Group - Home To Europe's Largest Bitcoin Fund
August 19, 2024--In a strategic move to expand its presence in Europe and the broader crypto industry, asset manager and Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Bitwise Investment has sealed a deal to acquire ETC Group, a major crypto issuer headquartered in London.
Bitwise Doubles Down On Institutional Bitcoin
While specific terms of the transaction remain undisclosed, Bitwise announced on Monday that following the finalization of the deal, the San Francisco-based company will be entrusted with managing a substantial $4.5 billion in assets.
view more
Source: bitcoinist.com
European fund performance significantly lags behind US peers after T+1
August 19, 2024--Post T+1 analyses of passive S&P 500 funds show European returns are 14-20 basis points lower than their US equivalents
Lower returns for European funds investing in US equities compared with US-domiciled funds with similar portfolios are accelerating demand among asset managers for the EU to cut fund settlement times..
Ignites Europe analysis of Morningstar data suggests the change may be having a negative effect for European investors, bearing out warnings from asset management executives on differences in settlement times between Europe and the US.
view more
Source: ft.com
JP Morgan Asset Management promotes Travis Spence to head of global ETFs
August 16, 2024--Alongside distribution responsibilities
JP Morgan Asset Management has promoted Travis Spence to the role of global head of ETFs, effective immediately.
In the new role, he will lead the ETF product development, capital markets and the newly formed ETF insights team, while retaining his responsibilities as head of ETF distribution in EMEA.
Based in London, Spence will report to CIO and global head of asset management solutions Jed Laskowitz.
He has spent 20 years at JPMAM, holding roles such as head of EMEA ETF distribution, international head of fixed income investment specialist, and head of the global liquidity Asia business.
view more
Source: investmentweek.co.uk
ETFs' huge appetite extends to SMAs
August 12, 2024--Conversions of separately managed accounts are taking place in both the US and Europe, suggesting demand is growing
The ballooning exchange traded fund industry is threatening to take a bite out of separately managed accounts, having already eaten the lunch of the mutual fund sector.
Since the start of 2021 mutual funds have suffered outflows of more than $1tn in the US even as flashy upstart ETFs have pulled in $2tn, according to figures from Morningstar. ETFs have also gained market share in Europe and Asia, albeit at a slower pace. This has prompted a flurry of mutual fund-to-ETF conversions as asset managers have pivoted towards the ascendant fund structure.
view more
Source: ft.com
ESMA publishes latest edition of its newsletter
August 8, 2024--The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today published its latest editionof the Spotlight on Markets Newsletter.
Your one-stop-shop in the world of EU financial markets focuses in July on the latest developments in relation to the Regulation on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
ESMA published an opinion on global crypto firms using their non-EU execution venues. Under DORA, the European Supervisory Authorities published the second batch of policy products and the Final report on the draft technical standards on subcontracting ICT services and have announced the EU systemic cyber incident coordination framework.
On a different note, ESMA set out its long-term vision on the functioning of the Sustainable Finance Framework and published the results of its fifth stress test exercise for Central Counterparties.
view more
Source: esma.europa.eu
Vanguard's latest monthly summary of flows in the European ETF market-Equity and bond ETFs both see inflows in July
August 8, 2024--Equity and fixed income ETF exposures both saw inflows in July during what was a mixed month for financial markets.
European-domiciled ETFs attracted $22.9 billion of assets in July, with equity and fixed income products seeing $12.3 billion and $11.0 billion in flows respectively.
The Vanguard UCITS ETF range captured net inflows of $3.2 billion in July, with the majority of ETFs in the range recording positive flows.
Monthly recap: A mixed month for markets as both equity and bond ETFs see inflows
July was a mixed month for financial markets. During the first half of the month, continued optimism around US growth pushed equity markets higher. Later in July, concerns around company earnings in the technology sector and the publication of weak economic data in the US fuelled a more risk-off sentiment.
view more
Source: Vanguard
Regulatory update: New Overseas Funds Regime European Long-Term Investment Funds
August 7, 2024--Two major regulatory changes have been announced this month for EU and UK based asset managers:
The new Overseas Funds Regime is a major opportunity to win business in the UK. It allows overseas investment funds to apply to become recognised in the UK and marketed to UK investors.
The European Commission has also published its regulatory technical standards for European Long-Term Investment Funds.
These now more power over liquidity management into the hands of asset managers in both EU and UK.
Overseas Funds Regime
Taken together, these sought-after changes will streamline and improve processes whether related to a post-Brexit environment or navigating long term investment funds in Europe.
The new Overseas Funds Regime (OFR) re-opens the UK market for funds which were not registered under the Temporary Permissions Regime (TMPR). The new regime- announced in May and updated in July- allows overseas investment funds to apply to become recognised in the UK and marketed to UK investors.
view more
Source: carnegroup.com
New equity ETF from iShares on Xetra: access to climate-friendly Japanese companies with currency hedging
August 7, 2024--Since today, a new exchange-traded fund from iShares has been tradable via Xetra and Börse Frankfurt.
The iShares MSCI Japan ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF EUR Hedged (Acc) offers investors the opportunity to invest in a portfolio of a subset of Japanese equities within the MSCI Japan Index. The fund aims to exceed the decarbonisation and other minimum standards of the CTB Benchmark Regulation.
Stock selection takes an ESG optimisation approach to maximise exposure to sustainable companies and reduce carbon emissions exposure relative to the parent index.
This is a currency hedged share class against the euro.
view more
Source: Xetra
