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Credit rating agency reform: sovereign debt ratings to be regulated
June 19, 2012--Draft legislation to regulate credit rating agencies and reduce reliance on their ratings was voted in the Economic and Monetary Committee on Tuesday.
MEPs sought to ensure that the legislation injects more responsibility, transparency and independence into credit rating activities, and helps to enhance the quality of ratings issued in the EU, thereby improving protection for users and investors.
"The debt crisis in the Eurozone has shown that credit rating agencies have gained too much influence, to the point of being able to influence the political agenda. In response we have strengthened rules on sovereign debt ratings and conflicts of interest", said Leonardo Domenici (S&D, IT), the MEP steering the reform through Parliament,
Sovereign debt ratings to be regulated
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Source: European Parliament
Lyxor Asset Management partners with Koris International to offer investment solutions developed off the Lyxor Managed Account Platform
June 19, 2012--Lyxor Asset Management (Lyxor) and Koris International launch a commercial and marketing partnership to design investment solutions for distribution across continental Europe based off the funds available on the Lyxor Managed Account Platform. The partnership will last at least two years.
The partnership combines Lyxor’s state-of-the-art managed account platform, which applies liquidity
and systematic risk control to alternative strategies, with Koris International’s extensive quantitative
asset allocation technologies, establishing a vast field for innovation.
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Source: Lyxor
Eurobonds and other tools for debt solidarity
June 18, 2012--EU Member States' very short term debt should be pooled immediately through Eurobills, and in the longer run, the EU should consider not only Eurobonds but also a form of federal debt on the US model , argues a non-legislative text presented to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Monday.
Presenting her proposals, Sylvie Goulard (ALDE, FR), set out a potential roadmap which would address not just the immediate needs of the Eurozone crisis but also longer-term ones resulting from the deepening of the EU's economic governance.
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Source: Europa
Majority of advisers do not understand structure of ETFs
June 18, 2012--The majority of financial advisers admit that they have little or no understanding of the structure of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) according to Skandia's latest Adviser Confidence Barometer. Over two thirds of advisers indicated that they have little or no understanding of the structure of synthetic ETFs and over half have little or no understanding of asset based ETFs.
With the FSA having already expressed concerns about the complexity of ETFs and there being a lack of understanding of how they work by both advisers and customers, there is a real danger of these funds being used when they should not be. Advisers are clearly wary of this issue and this is underlined by the research which showed that over 70% of advisers do not have any clients holding ETFs, and of those who do, the overwhelming majority hold 5% or less of this type of asset in their portfolio. This illustrates that ETFs remain very much a niche passive investment solution that is suitable for a limited number of clients.
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Source: Skandia
ETFs closing in on record 2010 fund flows
June 18, 2012--Total exchange-traded fund assets in Europe at the end of May are already on a par with full-year 2011 numbers and fast encroaching on its record end-of-year 2010 figures.
At the end of 2011, European ETF assets stood at $268bn, down from $283bn at the end of 2010. At the end of May this year, the figure stood at $266bn, just 1% below last year’s full calendar-year performance.
To show the volatility and liquidity of ETFs, compared to the end of April 2012 total ETF assets are 8.7% down, from $290bn to $266bn.
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Source: Portfolio Adviser
Europe Needs Comprehensive Action to Revive Growth
June 18, 2012--High unemployment, weak growth undermining stability in Europe
Structural reform agenda could boost GDP by 4 ½ percent over five years, help rebalancing within the euro area
Weak competitiveness, recession in Southern Europe calls for additional policies to reenergize growth
Europe needs to revive economic growth to help break the vicious cycle that keeps many countries stuck in crisis mode-the feedback loop between weak government finances, weak banks, and weak growth that continually undermine each other.
Europe also needs to tackle older challenges that hinder growth potential, the IMF said in a new paper.
Policymakers in Europe have taken unprecedented actions in recent months to stave off economic and financial troubles, the IMF said. Countries are reducing government debts and deficits, and capital is being provided to weak banks.
Risks have been reduced by a strengthening of the euro area’s anti-crisis firewall, lending by the European Central Bank, and the introduction of the new fiscal compact.
view the IMF Staff paper-Fostering Growth in Europe Now
Source: IMF
UBS and Hedge Fund Research to offer four new ETFs
June 18, 2012--UBS and Hedge Fund Research have announced that they will offer exposure to four of their hedge fund benchmark indices through exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Following the successful launch of the UBS ETFs - HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index SF in December 2010, ETFs will be offered for the HFRX Equity Hedge Index SF, HFRX Event Driven Index SF, HFRX Relative Value Arbitrage Index SF and HFRX Macro CTA Index SF.
Clemens Reuter, head of UBS ETFs said: “The launch of the HFRX sub strategies are a natural extension to our existing HFRX Global Hedge Fund ETF.”
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Source: Investment Europe
Choose trackers over ETFs, says Skandia
June 18, 2012--UK financial advisers' demand for exchange traded funds will remain limited as the majority of advisers have little or no understanding of ETFs, according to Skandia, the investment group.
A survey of 840 financial advisers by Skandia found that 70 per cent did not have any clients holding ETFs. Of those that did hold ETFs, the overwhelming majority had 5 per cent or less of these instruments in their portfolio.
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Source: FT.com
HFR and UBS launch Ucits-compliant HF ETFs
June 15, 2012--Swiss bank UBS and Chicago-based research house Hedge Fund Research (HFR) launched four Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) powered by HFR's individual strategy indices, according to a company announcement.
The HFRX Equity Index, HFRX Event Driven Index, HFRX Relative Value Arbitrage Index and HFRX Macro CTA Index will be listed on the Deutsche Boerse Exchange Friday and are Ucits-compliant.
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Source: HFM Week
Knowledge gaps on both sides of the table
June 15, 2012--With less than six months before the Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduces new standards for advisers, under its Retail Distribution Review (RDR), the rush to train wealth managers has become a defining theme of 2012.
But while the progress evidenced in this year’s survey results is impressive, we at Ledbury Research believe further improvements in education and qualifications are needed.
Our monitoring of UK wealth managers and their clients suggests that there are two other training campaigns to which the industry needs to commit – in addition to meeting RDR requirements.
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Source: FT.com
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