Global ETF News Older than One Year
Regulating the Growth of ESG Investing
A look at the landscape of ESG regulation around the world, across three main areas
June 3, 2019--The growth of environmental, social, and governance investing has been astronomical over the past few years. Our latest report, "The Evolving Approaches to Regulating ESG Investing," shows that investments in European and U.S. ESG-oriented funds increased 44% between the end of 2014 and the end of 2018, reaching a total of EUR 761 billion (further detailed in the Morningstar Sustainability Atlas and U.S. Landscape Report).
This growth naturally leads policymakers to examine a spectrum of ESG regulation and policy interventions to facilitate sustainable investing.
In this report, we explore the scope of these interventions across three broad areas and how regulators' ambitions vary by location.
ESG regulation in investment management and advice
European policymakers have been at the vanguard of this effort with the European Commission's Sustainable Finance Package of Measures, the multiple elements of which continue to move through the legislative process and are expected to be adopted this summer.view more
Source: Morningstar
UBS-Led Group to Launch Blockchain-Based Trade-Settlement Platform
June 3, 2019--Companies have invested $63.2 million in Fnality International
A group of financial firms led by UBS Group AG plans to start using a bitcoin-like token to settle cross-border trades, one of the biggest developments yet in the effort to make use of nascent blockchain technology.
The 14 firms-a group that includes big banks in the U.S., Europe and Japan-have created a new company to control development of the token, called the utility settlement coin, or USC. They have collectively invested £50 million ($63.2 million) in the company, Fnality International.
Source: Wall Street Journal
FSB reports on work underway to address crypto-asset risks
May 31, 2019--The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a report on crypto-assets, which considers work underway, regulatory approaches and potential gaps. The report is being delivered to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for their meeting in Fukuoka on 8-9 June.
International organisations1 are working on a number of fronts, directly addressing issues arising from crypto-assets. As described in the report, they are mainly focused on investor protection, market integrity, anti-money laundering, bank exposures and financial stability monitoring. They are monitoring and analysing developments in these markets, setting supervisory expectations for firms and clarifying how international standards apply to crypto-assets.
Source: FSB
Rethinking the Bid/Ask Spread for ETF Investors
May 31, 2019--Jason Xavier, head of EMEA ETF Capital Markets at Franklin Templeton, is on a quest to demystify exchange-traded fund (ETF) investing. In this article, he explores why some investors misunderstand the significance of bid/ask spreads in assessing the attractiveness of ETFs.
This post is also available in: Italian German
Over a series of articles, we have been trying to resolve the misconceptions some investors have about ETFs.
Previous articles have looked at the role of trading volume and size and market resilience.
In this article, we're going to look at "bid/ask spreads" and illustrate why some of the most widely used metrics can potentially be misleading.
Source: Franklin Templeton Investments
Global Trade Watch 2018: Trade Amid Tensions
May 29, 2019--Global Trade Watch is an annual publication that tracks emerging trends in global trade. The 2018 edition seeks to answer key questions like:
What are the recent developments in global trade, up to Q1 2019?
What has been the trade impact of the tit for tat tariffs on U.S., China and third countries?
Why certain targeted products show little effects, while others experience large swings?
What happened to export prices in response to tariffs?
What is the long-term effect of the tensions on world poverty and global value chains?
2018 Highlights
Global trade growth showed signs of stabilizing in the first quarter of 2019, after slowing in 2018 amid weakening economic growth in China and the Euro area and rising trade protectionism. However, an escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions might change the outlook.
view the IMF Global Trade Watch 2018: Trade Amid Tensions
Source: World Bank
Dark pool and OTC crypto trading growing as market begins to resemble traditional asset classes
May 29, 2019--Aite Group report finds OTC market accounted for 60% of all cryptocurrency trades in 2018, expected share to grow to 65% in 2019.
New research has shown a growing percentage of crypto trades being executed via the OTC market and dark pools in a sign of the asset class maturing as it continues to evolve.
The report from Aite Group shows that the OTC market accounted for 60% of all cryptocurrency trades in 2018 and expects the share to grow to 65% in 2019. These numbers show a significant increase from 2016 where OTC activity accounted for 32% of trades.
Source: thetradenews.com
Global Trade Watch 201: Trade Amid Tensions
May 29, 2019--Global trade growth showed signs of stabilizing in the first quarter of 2019, after slowing in 2018 amid weakening economic growth in China and the Euro area and rising trade protectionism. However, an escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions might change the outlook.
Tit-for-tat tariffs have diverted trade to many developing countries. They had major effects on imports of easily substitutable products as soybeans and hard-disk drives.
If trade tensions intensify and cause a slump in investor confidence, up to 30.7 million people could be pushed into poverty at levels below $5.50 a day under a worst-case scenario. In the longer term, trade tensions could also disrupt global value chains.
view the World Bank Global Trade Watch 2018 : Trade Amid Tensions report
Source: World Bank
Investor Confidence Rose in May by 6.6 Points to 79.5
May 29, 2019-State Street Global Exchange today released the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index(R)(ICI) for May 2019.
The Global Investor Confidence Index increased to 79.5, up 6.6 points from April's revised reading of 72.9
Confidence among North American and European investors improved, with the North American ICI rising from 71.3 to 76.7, and the European ICI rising from 86.6 to 92.5. By contrast, the Asia ICI dropped by 4.2 points to 88.4.
Source: State Street Corporation
Stability in the Financial System (2019:1)
May 28, 2019--Both the global and the Swedish economies appear to be slowing down. Low interest rates-which have resulted in high risk-taking and rising asset prices-are expected to remain low for a prolonged period of time. Resilience in the Swedish financial system is satisfactory in general.
However, even if the banks' resilience is satisfactory overall, FI makes the assessment that they need more capital to cover the risks in their lending to commercial real estate firms.
The prolonged period of low interest rates has led to higher risk-taking among various market participants. This has contributed to the increase in lending among households and firms and the increase in the prices of houses, commercial real estate, shares and other assets. If the willingness to take on risk were to fall sharply, this could cause large price reductions on the markets. This could ultimately have a negative impact on financial stability in Sweden.
view the Finansinspektionen Stability in the Financial System report
Source: Finansinspektionen
Bitcoin climbs to highest in a year amid cryptocurrency comeback
May 27, 2019--Bitcoin has soared to the highest level in a year, extending a run that's seen prices more than double since March.
Source: FIN24