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LSE eyes derivatives boost as it sets launch
November 18, 2010--The London Stock Exchange is aiming for a quadrupling in revenue from derivatives trading with the launch in the first half of next year of equity options
on its Turquoise pan-European trading system. Xavier Rolet, chief executive, has said the LSE must expand into derivatives and clearing to boost margins and restore it to the ranks of rivals such as NYSE Euronext ..
STOXX launches Blue-chip Indices for North America, Asia/Pacific and Global markets
November 17, 2010--STOXX Limited, a global index provider and creator of the leading European equity indices, today announced the launch of the STOXX North America 50, STOXX Asia/Pacific 50 and STOXX Global 150 indices. The new blue-chip indices take the well-known methodology of the European flag-ship indices to the North American and Asia/Pacific regions.
„With the launch of the STOXX North America 50, STOXX Asia/Pacific 50 and STOXX Global 150 indices, STOXX for the first time applies the renowned methodology of the EURO STOXX 50 Index to the North American and Asian/Pacific markets,” said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited. “Our new indices offer a unique and well-balanced representation of blue-chip companies across all supersectors in these markets, thus enabling investors to participate from the performance of only the most liquid stocks in these regions.”
The STOXX North America 50 and STOXX Asia/Pacific 50 indices are derived from the STOXX Americas 600 and STOXX Asia/Pacific 600 indices, respectively. For each of the 19 supersectors of the respective index, the components are ranked by free float market capitalisation. The largest stocks are then added to the selection list until the coverage is close to (but still less than) 60% of the market capitalisation of the respective supersector. Stocks on the selection list are ranked by free float market capitalisation and the 50 largest stocks are chosen as components for the respective blue-chip index.
The STOXX Global 150 Index comprises the components of the STOXX North America 50, STOXX Europe 50 and STOXX Asia/Pacific 50 indices.
The new indices are weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization, calculated in EUR and US dollar, and are available in price and net return versions. Daily history is available back to December 31, 1991. The indices are reviewed annually in September.
For more information on the STOXX North America 50, STOXX Asia/Pacific 50 and STOXX Global 150 indices please visit www.stoxx.com.
ETF Landscape: European STOXX 600 Sector ETF Net Flows week ending 12-Nov-10
November 17, 2010--For the week ending 12 November 2010, there were US$956.4 Mn net outflows from STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF net outflows last week were in banks with US$227.9 Mn and basic resources with US$208.0 Mn while utilities experienced net inflows of US$5.0 Mn.
Year-to-date, STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs have seen US$477.6 Mn net inflows. Banks sector ETFs have seen the largest net inflows with US$244.8 Mn, followed by utilities with US$86.9 Mn while food and beverage has experienced the largest net outflows of US$156.9 Mn YTD.
As of 12 November 2010, there is US$10.2 Bn AUM invested in the STOXX sector ETFs which is more than double the US$4.6 Bn open interest in the sector futures. The ETF AUM is greater than the open interest in the corresponding futures contract in 17 out of 19 sectors.
Hedge fund returns positive again in October
EDHEC-Risk Alternative Indexes
November 17, 2010--In October, after four months of agitation, activity on the stock market seemed to calm down somewhat. Following exceptional gains in September, the S&P 500 index remained on the rise (+3.80%) and implied volatility (21.20%) decreased significantly by 2.50% to reach its lowest level since last March.
On the fixed-income market, regular bonds remained stable (+0.09%) although the Lehman Global Bond index withdrew marginally (-0.16%). Conversely, after a remarkable performance in September, convertible bonds remained strong (+3.08%). The situation was similar on the commodities market which managed another noticeable performance (+3.31%). Although not as precipitously as in September, the dollar continued to fall (-1.93%) and reached its lowest level since July 2008.
FSA publishes platform proposals
November 17, 2010--The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today published proposals to ensure that the platform services used to buy and manage investments after January 2013 are fully aligned with standards required by the Retail Distribution Review.
From January 2013, the cost of advice will be decided by the client and adviser – not the adviser and product provider, as was the case - and can no longer be hidden from the customer in the cost of the product.
Additionally, advisers will offer either independent advice which is free from restrictions or bias and which reviews the market comprehensively – or alternatively, restricted advice, having to explain the customer the nature of the restriction to their customer.
The proposals set out in today’s paper reflect the important role that platforms already play in the retail investment market, and potentially important role in helping advisers to deliver advice to consumers in a post- commission world.
The main proposals:
Prevent product providers from making payments that advisers could use to disguise the charge the customer is paying for advice, and which could influence advisers in recommending one product over another. Allowing such payments could totally undermine what we have set out to achieve for consumers by removing commission bias and could leave product charges at an artificially high level;
Investors To Play Bigger Role In Hedge Fund Standards Board
November 17, 2010--The Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB) is significantly strengthening the role and influence of investors in its standard-setting process with the launch of an Investor Chapter.
Members of the chapter, who include leading investors from Europe, Asia and North America, will provide input into the Standards and play a key role in widening adoption of the Standards among managers internationally.
Utah Retirement Systems (US), Railpen and the BT Pension Scheme (UK), APG (Netherlands), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Canada), PP Pension (Sweden), Pictet (Switzerland), AXA (France) and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation are among the 30 initial members. They include many of the biggest global investors in hedge funds, accounting in total for hedge fund assets of about $180bn.
Unscheduled Adjustment in TecDAX
STRATEC Biomedical Systems to replace SMARTRAC effective 19 November
November 17, 2010--Deutsche Börse has announced an unscheduled adjustment in TecDAX. The free float of SMARTRAC N.V. has dropped below ten percent and does therefore no longer meet the criteria of the index.
STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG will replace the share of SMARTRAC N.V. in TecDAX.
The next regular review of the equity indices of Deutsche Börse is scheduled for 3 December 2010.
Banks launch record euro-denominated ‘junk’ bond
November 17, 2010--Bankers have launched the biggest euro-denominated “junk” bond, the latest sign of the European market’s evolution, amid growing investor appetite for riskier assets.
Wind, the Italian telecoms operator, is planning to sell bonds worth €2.5bn as part of a wider €6.6bn refinancing that will include $1bn of bonds offered in dollars.
Ireland facing crisis talks with EU/IMF mission
November 17, 2010--- Ireland faces financial crisis talks with a delegation from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Thursday, as markets await news of a bailout.
The high-profile EU/IMF mission will seek an "intensive engagement" to try and stabilise the nation's deeply troubled banking sector, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said Wednesday.
The delegation will kick off talks with the government amid domestic concern that any bailout could force it to ramp up Ireland's low corporate tax that had helped fuel its economic boom before the financial crisis erupted.
Bourses hit by rising eurozone debt fears
November 16, 2010--European equities suffered their sharpest decline in more than four months, led by tumbling mining and financial stocks.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index fell 2.3 per cent to 1,086.61, the biggest loss since July, as the high price Spain and Greece ....
