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Investment Fund Assets Withstood Turbulence which Engulfed Financial Markets in 2011
February 26, 2012--The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA)published its latest Quarterly Statistical Release for the fourth quarter of 2011.
These final quarter statistics describe the trends in the European investment fund industry for the fourth quarter and overall in 2011.
Based on the report, please see the following highlights for 2011:
Asset growth and net sales in 2011:
Investment fund assets in Europe decreased by 2.8 percent to EUR 7,920 billion: overall, net assets of UCITS decreased by 6.2 percent to EUR 5,634 billion, after registering net outflows of EUR 88 billion during the year. Net assets of non-UCITS increased by 6.8 percent to EUR 2,286 billion, on the back of continued strong net inflows into special funds (EUR 101 billion).
Long-term UCITS experienced a sharp decline in demand: long-term UCITS experienced net outflows of EUR 55 billion in 2011, against net inflows of EUR 290 billion in 2010. This reversal started in August when the downgrading of the U.S. government debt and the euro crisis unraveled financial markets, leading to strong withdrawals from equity, bond and balanced funds.
Intense competition from the banking sector affected demand for money market funds: money market funds continued to record net outflows in 2011, albeit less than in 2010 (EUR 33 billion compared to EUR 122 billion).
ECB-Monetary developments in the euro area January 2012
February 26, 2012--The annual growth rate of the broad monetary aggregate M3 increased to 2.5% in January 2012, from 1.5% in December 2011.1
The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 in the period from
November 2011 to January 2012 stood at 2.0%, unchanged from the previous period.
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Source: ECB
Greece to launch bond swap
February 24, 2012--Greece will launch a bond swap on Friday under a deal with private investors to write off €107bn from its debt mountain of €350bn.
The bond swap, in effect a cancellation of nearly a third of debt owned by Greece, is a critical part of a debt rescue stitched together with immense difficulty by the eurozone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avert imminent default.
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Source: FIN24
ESMA readies guidelines on automated trading- application deadline starts
February 24, 2012--ESMA today publishes the official translations of its final "Guidelines on systems and controls in an automated trading environment for trading platforms, investment firms and competent authorities" (ESMA/2011/456), first published on 21 December 2011. High Frequency Trading (HFT) is one form of automated trading.
By having translated the guidelines into all the official languages of the EU, today’s publication triggers a transitional period of two months within which national supervisors have to declare whether they intend to comply with the guidelines or otherwise explain the reasons for non-compliance which would be made public by ESMA.
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Source: ESMA
Derivatives: Council's position updated ahead of talks with EP
February 24, 2012--The Council today1 adjusted its position in negotiations with the European Parliament on a draft regulation aimed at increasing transparency on all derivatives and reducing risk in the
over-the-counter2 (OTC) derivatives market. This is designed to facilitate rapid agreement with the Parliament, so as to enable the regulation to be adopted in first reading.
The main change to a general approach agreed by the Council in October relates to the procedure for authorising central counterparties (CCPs)3, in particular to the powers of the CCP's "home" member state, i.e. the member state of establishment, versus those of the college of supervisors4 and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
A general approach agreed in October specified that a CCP authorisation by a member state competent authority could only be blocked by a negative opinion of the college supported by a "unanimity minus one" vote (i.e. all the members of the college, excluding the authorities of the "home" member state). However, in order to facilitate agreement with the Parliament, which is pushing for a stronger role for the college and for ESMA, the Council today approved a proposal by the presidency which would introduce two additional safeguards, whereby:
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Source: European Council
EU interim forecast: a mild recession with signs of stabilisation
February 23, 2012--The latest interim forecast of the European Commission, presented on 23 February, points to a stagnation of the EU economy and to a mild recession in the euro area. However, modest growth is predicted to return in the second half of the year.
Growth revised downwards
Against the backdrop of a waning growth momentum and continued low confidence, real GDP is expected to stagnate in the EU and to shrink by 0.3% in the euro area in 2012. This constitutes a downward revision of 0.6 percentage points in the EU and 0.8 percentage points in the euro area compared to the autumn forecast of 10 November 2011. Contrary to earlier interim forecasts that built on the analysis of the seven largest EU economies, projections for the current forecast are based on estimates for all EU Member States.
Divergences between Member States remain pronounced
At the level of the individual Member States, growth divergences remain pronounced. In 2012, GDP growth is forecast to be positive in seventeen countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom) stagnant in one (Czech Republic) and negative in nine countries (Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia). Growth will be highest in Poland (2.5%), Lithuania (2.3%) and Latvia (2.1%) and lowest in Greece (-4.4%) and in Portugal (-3.3%).
view the •Interim forecast-full document
Source: European Commission
Fuhr Returns With ETF Research Outfit
February 23, 2012--Deborah Fuhr, one of the best-known names in the City of London's exchange-traded funds industry and a former FN100 Women in Finance, has launched an independent ETF research and consultancy business.
The former global head of ETF research and implementation strategy at BlackRock has established ETF Global Insight with two former colleagues.
The new firm will provide research on the ETF industry, products, applications, competitor analysis and regulatory advice. It will make money from paid for subscriptions and by charging for bespoke research projects. Fuhr said she was providing financing for the launch.
She said: "It's different [to working within an institution], you have to go out and buy your own computer kit. In a big company everything gets set up for you, so I'm learning how to set up a company - but enjoying it."
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Source: Wall Street Journal
Espirito Santo registra en Espana su negocio de ETF
Con el subfondo ESAF NYSE Euronext Iberian ETF
Febrero 23, 2012--La entidad portuguesa Espírito Santo Activos Financieros ha traído al mercado español su sicav luxemburguesa de fondos cotizados, de manera que la gestora ofrecerá a los clientes españoles tanto su gama de productos activos como los pasivos a través de esta línea de negocio. La entidad registró dicha sicav en CNMV recientemente.
La sicav de ETF de la entidad está compuesta por el subfondo ESAF NYSE Euronext Iberian ETF, un producto dirigido tanto a inversores institucionales como retail y que ofrece acceso a 30 grandes compañías de España y Portugal.
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Source: Fundspeople.com
Industry authority launches ETF GLOBAL INSIGHT
Deborah Fuhr and team to provide independent research and consultancy to the global ETF industry
February 23, 2012--February 23, 2012 -Award-winning ETF authority, Deborah Fuhr, together with her long-established team, announced today the formation of ETF Global Insight, an independent research and consultancy firm aimed at providing services to the rapidly expanding global Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) industry.
The new firm is focused on providing thought leadership; publishing independent research on the industry, products, applications, competitor analysis; providing education and assistance to investors on product comparison, asset allocation implementation and offering customised research.
The founding partners of the firm bring a wealth of ETF implementation and capital markets experience to the venture. Deborah Fuhr, Shane Kelly and Matthew Murray were instrumental in the development of the first ETF global industry research reports and worldwide handbooks while they were at Morgan Stanley and most recently they have been responsible for the development and production of ETF reports and handbooks at BlackRock/Barclays Global Investors.
Co-founding partner Deborah Fuhr said: "Having covered the ETF industry since 1997 when there were only 21 products and US$21 billion in assets under management I believe that ETFs have been one of the most successful financial products of the past 25 years, bringing investors liquidity, diversification and low-cost access to a wide range of asset classes around the world. While asset growth in the ETF industry has been tremendous, regulators, investors, ETF managers, brokers, index providers and all of the members of the ETF eco-system have been citing the need for more and better independent education, research and customised assistance to investors seeking to navigate the vast array of products. ETF Global Insight has been set up to provide this service across the globe."
Highly regarded and experienced team
Fuhr was previously the Global Head of ETF Research and Implementation Strategy and a Managing Director at BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors from Sept 2008 – Oct 2011. Under Ms Fuhr’s guidance, BlackRock’s Global ETF Research and Implementation Strategy team was responsible for advising clients on the implementation of asset allocation strategies using ETFs, producing analysis and guidebooks on the global ETF industry.
Prior to joining BlackRock in September 2008, Ms Fuhr spent 11 years at Morgan Stanley where she was a Managing Director and head of the Investment Strategies Group based in London.
Shane Kelly is a former Vice President at Merrill Lynch and former Vice President and Investment Strategist at BlackRock/BGI; prior to that he was an Associate in the Investment Strategies Group at Morgan Stanley. Matthew Murray is a former Associate at Merrill Lynch and a former Analyst in Fuhr’s team at BlackRock.
During their time at BlackRock, the team won numerous awards for their research which was distributed to over 13,000 professional investors around the world.
Fuhr added: "The need for independent research and assistance in navigating the ETF landscape is even greater today than at any time in the past ten years. Across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, there are exciting opportunities to bring ETFs to more investors in more countries with quality tools and research that serve their requirements. We believe the industry will see significant change as investors and regulators demand greater transparency, clarity and information which will benefit investors globally."
ETF Global Insight is a passionate advocate of the value proposition offered to investors by the ETF product category. The firm believes that true ETFs have been a tremendous advantage to investors, providing transparency, liquidity, diversification and choice to millions of investors. ETFs have grown from less than $25 billion of assets globally in 1997 to more than $1,500 billion at the end of January 2012.
Source:ETF Global Insight
ESMA launches a consultation on Key concepts of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and types of AIFM
February 23, 2012--Responses to this discussion paper will help ESMA in finalising its policy approach. In light of the feedback received, ESMA will develop a consultation paper in Q2 2012 setting out formal proposals for draft regulatory technical standards on Article 4(4) of the AIFMD.
The results of that public consultation will be used by ESMA in finalising the draft regulatory technical standards to be submitted to the European Commission for endorsement by the end of 2012.
view consultation paper
Source: ESMA
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