Global ETF News Older than One Year
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
Solactive makes strategic investment in European governance, sustainability, and proxy voting firm Minerva Analytics
May 27, 2019--Solactive announces the completion of a strategic investment in Minerva to accelerate the growth of the electronic voting, stewardship, and ESG research services firm.
Following the deal's completion, Minerva will build-out its research and client service capability through Solactive's offices in Frankfurt, Hong Kong, and Toronto, while leveraging Solactive’s technological capabilities in the fields of natural language processing to broaden its product suite. Minerva will now be able to offer clients global coverage, 24 hours a day. Solactive will seek to leverage Minerva data in the continued development of its offerings.
Source: Solactive
Goldman Sachs to speed up push into US wealth management
May 26, 2019--Acquisition of United Capital part of effort to take on Schwab and Morgan Stanley in $28tn market.
Source: FT.com
Hedge Funds Making Progress, but Slow to Adopt ESG
May 23, 2019--ESG may be the global rage among institutional investors, but hedge fund firms have been the slowest among alternative asset managers to integrate the principles into long/short investment strategies.
The dearth of ESG-compliant hedge funds is not the result of investor disinterest. Rather, investment consultants said asset owner demand for ESG integration across all strategies is at its highest level ever.
Source: pionline.com
