Thomson Reuters Monday Morning Memo: March 2018: European Investors Favor Equity Funds Despite Increased Volatility
April 23, 2018--European Fund-Flow Trends, March 2018
Even though the market environment turned negative, March was the fifteenth consecutive month showing a positive picture for long-term mutual fund flows. European fund promoters enjoyed net inflows into equity funds (+€3.4 bn), followed by mixed-asset funds (+€3.2 bn) and alternative UCITS funds (+€2.0 bn) as well as real estate funds (+€0.4 bn) and commodity funds (+€0.3 bn).
Meanwhile, bond funds (-€3.0 bn) and "other" funds (-€2.7 bn) faced net outflows.
These fund flows added up to overall net inflows of €3.5 bn into long-term investment funds for March. ETFs contributed €0.7 bn to these inflows.
State Street completes migration of Irish-domiciled SPDR ETFs to Euroclear's ICSD model
April 23, 2018--Euroclear Bank today announced that State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the asset management arm of State Street Corporation (STT) has now completed the migration of all of its SPDR Irish-domiciled Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) to Euroclear's ICSD model.
SSGA has transitioned the remaining 62 ETFs under the SSGA SPDR ETFs Europe I & II classification to Euroclear's International issuance structure or ICSD model. The related transactions will settle directly in the ICSD-Euroclear Bank.
The first tranche of SSGA's SPDR ETFs migrated into Euroclear's international issuance structure in December 2014.
Mifid II forces fund managers into sharp research cuts
April 22, 2018--European groups rein back on analysis produced by banks and brokers.
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Solactive and UBS launch pioneering World Bank & Development Bank Debt Indices
April 20, 2018--Solactive today issued the Solactive UBS Development Bank Bond Index Family, a new family of financial benchmarks targeting the World Bank and other high-grade development bank debt.
The family is the result of a partnership between Solactive and UBS and follows the launch of an increasing number of ESG strategies by the German index engineer.
This time, however, the Solactive UBS Development Bank Bond Index Family focuses on a field of sus-tainable investment that has not been widely explored before: that of development banks.
Truss Edge launches in Europe
April 19, 2018--Truss Edge, a technology company that has been founded to support the day to day portfolio management and reporting tasks of hedge funds and ETFs, is launching in Europe this week.
Truss Edge combines a technology offering for fund managers who need a front to back portfolio management solution combined with a highly experienced team of fund professionals who understand vanilla and esoteric financial markets.
New PowerShares-ETF with access to US preferred shares launched on Xetra
April 19, 2018--A new exchange traded fund from the PowerShares Source product family has been tradable via Xetra and Börse Frankfurt since Thursday.
The bond index ETF enables investors to participate in the performance of US preferred shares. These are fixed-rate, hybrid capital instruments (preferred securities) denominated in US dollars and issued in the US domestic market. Such securities must have a minimum rating of B3 and an investment-grade country rating. This share class uses a hedging strategy to hedge the exchange rate risk between the US dollar and the euro.
Name: PowerShares Preferred Shares UCITS ETF EUR Hgd Dist
Asset class: bond index ETF
ISIN: IE00BDT8V027
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STOXX and RiskFirst to launch LDI indices
April 19, 2018--STOXX Ltd., the operator of Deutsche Börse Group's index business and a global provider of innovative and tradable index concepts, announced today the launch of the new iSTOXX RiskFirst LDI index family. This new offering has been jointly developed with RiskFirst, the UK's leading provider of risk analytics and reporting solutions to the defined benefit pensions market.
STOXX will calculate a range of indices based on 12 profiles, capturing member type, duration, type of indexation (pre- and post-retirement), interest rate and inflation sensitivity and tax-free cash component of typical UK pension schemes. The indices combine STOXX's real-time fixed-income index calculation capabilities with a unique set of data provided by RiskFirst.
Matthew Seymour, CEO of RiskFirst, commented: "The set of indices we have developed in partnership with STOXX are a major leap forward, providing improved governance and increased accuracy in a cost-efficient solution. PFaroe is rapidly becoming an industry standard for the modelling of pension plans and therefore offers us unique insight into the behaviour of pension plan cash flow profiles at a very granular level. When combined with STOXX's extensive experience in designing innovative and objective investment benchmarks, the result is a set of indices that deliver great value to UK pension plans."
VIX index and products: the AMF publishes a study on the strong volatility observed on the markets in early February 2018
April 19, 2018--Given the spike in volatility perceived by investors in early February, the AMF is publishing an analysis of the main products concerned and their behaviour during this episode. Broadly speaking, the extent of investment strategies based on volatility calls for a certain vigilance.
Following the publication on February 2 of an economic statistic, triggering fears of a rise in interest rates in the United States, the markets experienced a strong increase in volatility. The S&P 500 index fell 4.2% on February 5. The VIX index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 index options, rose to 50 points in a few days, far from its 10 to 15 points average as observed in the previous months. The index has since returned to lower levels.
Progeny launches multi-asset ETF portfolio
April 18, 2018--A multi-asset ETF product that is only available through financial advisers has been launched by Progeny Asset Management.
Based in London, Leeds and Salisbury, Progeny provides wealth management and legal advice for private clients, corporates and family offices.
Its latest ETF solution, called Optimise Investment Income 60/40, is being launched by the investment management arm of Progeny Group.
Official Statistics: Forecasts for the UK economy: April 2018
April 18, 2018--Forecasts for the UK economy is a monthly comparison of independent forecasts.
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