BlackRock ETF Landscape: European STOXX 600 Sector ETF Net Flows for Week Ending 25-Mar-2011
March 30, 2011--For the week ending 25 March 2011, there were US$155.5 Mn net outflows from STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF net outflows last week were in utilities with US$55.1 Mn followed by telecommunications with US$54.9 Mn net outflows while oil and gas experienced net inflows of US$30.6 Mn.
Year to date, STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs have seen US$655.3 Mn net inflows. Banks has seen the largest net inflows with US$515.1 Mn, followed by oil and gas with US$502.3 Mn net inflows while automobiles and parts experienced the largest net outflows with US$125.2 Mn.
As of 25 March 2011, there is US$10.8 Bn AUM invested in the STOXX sector ETFs which is more than double the US$5.1 Bn open interest in the sector futures. The ETF AUM is greater than the open interest in the corresponding futures contract in all 19 sectors.
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Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
iShares brings out first short-dated sterling bond ETF
Fund will track Markit iBoxx GBP Corporate 1-5 index, providing exposure to short-dated corporate bonds denominated in Sterling.
March 30, 2011--iShares has bolstered its fixed income range with the launch of the Markit iBoxx £ Corporate Bond 1-5, a new ETF that is the first in the world to provide exposure to short-dated corporate bonds denominated in sterling.
The fund, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange as of today (30 March), is physically backed in structure, meaning it directly invests in and replicates the index on which it is based.
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Source: FT Advisor
iShares launches world first short-dated sterling denominated corporate bond ETF
March 30, 2011--iShares, the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) platform of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) has expanded its fixed income range with the launch of the iShares Markit
iBoxx £ Corporate Bond 1-5. Listing on the LSE today, it is the first ETF to provide specific exposure to short-dated corporate bonds which are denominated in Sterling.
Physically backed in structure, the iShares Markit iBoxx £ Corporate Bond 1-5 aims to track the Markit iBoxx GBP Corporate 1-5 Index. It provides investors with cost-effective access to
investment grade, sterling denominated corporate bonds with an expected remaining time to maturity of between one and five years. The fund is optimised, ensuring liquidity and efficiency of trading. As with all iShares ETFs, this product provides investors with full transparency into the underlying fund holdings and investors are able to take advantage of continuous pricing by visiting www.iShares.com.
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Source: BlackRock
Government publishes response to carbon price floor consultation
March 30, 2011--The Government has today published its response to the carbon price floor consultation. The consultation set out the Government’s proposal to provide greater support and certainty to the price of carbon in the power sector, to encourage investment in low-carbon electricity generation. :
In line with the rates set out at Budget last week, the Government confirms that
The target carbon price for 2013-14 will be around £16 per tonne of carbon dioxide (tCO2), which is £19.16 in 2013-14 prices.
Taking this rate and subtracting the forecast Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) rate for 2013-14 (£14.21/tCO2), the support rate for 2013-14 will be £4.94/tCO2.
Prospective support rates for 2014-15 and 2015-16 are £7.28/tCO2 and £9.86/tCO2 respectively. Budget 2012 will confirm the carbon price support rates for 2014-15, and set out indicative rates for the subsequent two years.
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Source: HM Treasury
Emissions trading: rules on transitional free allocation of allowances to the power sector adopted
March 29, 2011--From the start of the third phase of the EU Emissions Trading System (2013-20) the power sector will in general have to buy all its allowances. However, until 2019 ten Member States1 may choose to allocate a limited number of allowances for free to power stations instead of selling them.
Today's Commission Decision sets out the rules Member States would have to follow if they opt to give away allowances for free, and is accompanied by a Communication with additional guidance on how any applications received will be assessed.
The Decision lays down the rules for allocating free emission allowances to eligible power installations. It was approved unanimously by Member States at the November 2010 meeting of the EU Climate Change Committee, in which all Member States are represented, and was formally adopted by the Commission today.
The Communication sets out the elements that the Commission has to assess when receiving an application for free allocation to the power sector. It also provides clarification on different elements of the legal provisions.
Application deadline
Any of the 10 Member States that wish to allocate free allowances to power stations must submit an application to the Commission by 30 September 2011.
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Source: Europa
Brazil may help Portugal in economic crisis
March 29, 2011--Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Tuesday that her country could help its former colonial ruler Portugal as the eurozone state struggles to cope with a growing deficit and debt crisis.
Yes, Brazil could help Portugal, just as Portugal helped Brazil economically," Rousseff was quoted as saying by the Lusa news agency during a visit to the central city of Coimbra.
Rousseff was set to travel to Lisbon on Wednesday to meet her Portuguese counterpart Anibal Cavaco Silva and outgoing prime minister Jose Socrates.
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Source: EUbusiness
Chi-X Europe and Russell Investments to Launch New European Equity Indices
March 29, 2011--Chi-X Europe, the leading pan-European equities exchange, and Russell Investments, owner of global equity benchmarks with US$3.9 trillion in assets benchmarked to them, today announced the creation of an alliance to launch a new series of European indices.
The new series will be designed to offer more efficient and relevant benchmark indices than those currently available. The new indices will provide targeted exposure by incorporating the most liquid and highly capitalised stocks across Europe to ensure the necessary regional coverage and high investability. The indices also will efficiently balance currency exposure and tracking error with the number of constituents to appeal to the widest possible audience of equity index users.
All the new indices will be constructed using Russell’s transparent, rules-based methodology, ensuring consistency, predictability and objectivity for the industry. Chi-X Europe’s traded prices will be the underlying price source and, therefore, for the first time, provide homogeneous pan-European pricing.
It is anticipated that Chi-X Europe will list futures and options contracts on the indices in the future. It will seek to leverage its highly liquid pan-European cash equities market to compete with incumbents and deliver technology, cost and risk efficiencies to its wide range of users.
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Source: Automated Trader
Sovereign Rating News and Financial Markets Spillovers: Evidence from the European Debt Crisis-IMF Working Paper
March 29, 2011--Summary: This paper examines the spillover effects of sovereign rating news on European financial markets during the period 2007-2010. Our main finding is that sovereign rating downgrades have statistically and economically significant spillover effects both across countries and financial markets.
The sign and magnitude of the spillover effects depend both on the type of announcements, the source country experiencing the downgrade and the rating agency from which the announcements originates. However, we also find evidence that downgrades to near speculative grade ratings for relatively large economies such as Greece have a systematic spillover effects across Euro zone countries. Rating-based triggers used in banking regulation, CDS contracts, and investment mandates may help explain these results.
Pound hit by low confidence
March 28, 2011--Sterling dropped to its lowest level this year on a trade-weighted basis as expectations for a near-term rise in UK interest rates receded.
Sterling suffered as figures showed business confidence declined in March to its lowest level in two years, raising concerns over the health of the UK’s fragile economic recovery.
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Source: FT.com
ESMA Data on Prospectuses Approved and Passported - July 2010 to December 2010
March 28, 2011--ESMA is publishing today the tables compiling the data on prospectuses approved and passported for the period July 2010 to December 2010 (with a quarterly disclosure).
The tables reflect the information as provided by the national competent authorites It is important to note that the compe-tent authorities have different internal databases in place that might lead to some divergences in the data provided.
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ESMA Data on Prospectuses Approved and Passported - July 2010 to December 2010
Source: ESMA
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