Global ETF News Older than One Year
Above $6,000: Bitcoin's Price Spikes to 6-Month High
May 9, 2019--Bitcoin's price rose above $6,000 on most cryptocurrency exchanges for the first time today in nearly six months.
At 00:57 UTC on Thursday, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, which accounts for more than half of all other cryptocurrencies combined, picked up a bid and saw its price reach as high as $6,076 – its highest price since Nov. 14, 2018.
Source: coindesk.com
Can emerging markets be a source of global troubles again?
May 9, 2019--According to popular perception, emerging-market economies have not experienced serious macroeconomic and financial turbulence since the beginning of this century. This perception was not entirely correct because it disregarded spill-over effects of the global financial crises of 2008–2009, the consequences of the decline of oil and other commodity prices in 2014–2016, economic and financial troubles caused by violent conflicts and regional political instability.
After two turbulent decades (1980s and 1990s) when emerging-market economies were frequent victims of financial crises, in the first two decades of the 21st century their macroeconomic performance improved. Nevertheless, there were three crisis episodes that hit some of these countries: (i) the spill-over effects of the global financial crisis in 2008–2009; (ii) the consequences of the decline in commodity prices in 2014–2016 for their exporters; (iii) the turbulence in Argentina and Turkey in 2018.
Source: Bruegel
Tradeweb Reports April 2019 Trade Volume
May 9, 2019--CONTINUED STRONG TRADING ACTIVITY YEAR TO DATE
Average daily volume (ADV) across rates, credit, money markets and equities for Tradeweb Markets in April 2019 was the second highest monthly total ever at Tradeweb. ADV for April 2019 of $665.5 billion (bn) rose 34.2 percent (%) year over year (YoY) while average daily trades totaled 49,423.
During the month, activity in interest rate swaps and swaptions rose significantly YoY to ADV of $169.9 bn. U.S. high-grade credit ADV was $2.9 bn; Tradeweb volumes accounted for a record 12.7% of TRACE due in part to the continued growth of portfolio trading. Mortgage trading of $169.0 bn per day included a marked increase in forward trading of uniform mortgage-backed securities (UMBS) month over month (MoM). Activity in U.S. and European government bonds rose 19.1% and 12.3% YoY, respectively. ADV in European ETFs rose 42.1% YoY. Equity convertibles, swaps and options set a new record as ADV rose 164.8% YoY to $1.8 bn. ADV in repurchase agreements of $186.8 bn exceeded $180 bn for the first time since the crisis.
Source: Tradeweb
Algo Trading Market to Surpass $18.8 Billion in Five Years
May 9, 2019--Among algorithmic market applications, the stock markets segment is expected to exhibit the highest growth rate.
According to MarketsandMarketsTM, the global algorithmic trading market will be valued at $11.1 billion in 2019, and is projected to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1 percent over the next five years. The research firm expects this figure to hit $18.8 billion by 2024.
Algo trading involves the use of automated programs to follow a set of instructions to perform trades, taking into account factors such as time, price and volume. Such platforms take advantage of artificial intelligence and human intelligence in order to reduce trading costs and help money managers control their business procedures.
Source: financemagnates.com
How the fund industry can flush out the closet trackers
Disclosure of the true cost of active management will help both investors and society.
May 8, 2019--At the same time, critics of active managers claim there are too many closet trackers-funds that charge active fees (typically five to 10 times...
Source: FT.com
IMF Working Paper-Taming Financial Development to Reduce Crises
May 8, 2019--Summary:
This paper assesses whether and how financial development triggers the occurrence of banking crises. It builds on a database that includes financial development as well as financial access, depth and efficiency for almost 100 countries.
Through estimation of a dynamic logit panel model, it appears that financial development, from an institutional dimension and to a lesser extent from a market dimension, triggers financial instability within a one- to two-year horizon. Additionally, whereas financial access is destabilizing for advanced countries, it is stabilizing for emerging and low income ones. Both results have important implications for macroprudential policies and financial regulations.
view the IMF Working Paper-Taming Financial Development to Reduce Crises
Source: IMF
Basel Committee reports on Basel III implementation progress
May 7, 2019--The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today issued the Sixteenth progress report on adoption of the Basel regulatory framework. As noted by the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS), the Committee's oversight body, its members expect full, timely and consistent implementation of the finalised Basel III reforms by member jurisdictions.
The progess report sets out the adoption status of Basel III standards for each Committee member jurisdiction as of end-March 2019. It includes the Basel III post-crisis reforms published by the Committee in December 2017 and the finalised market risk framework published in January 2019. These reforms will take effect from 1 January 2022.
view the BIS Sixteenth progress report on adoption of the Basel regulatory framework report
Source: BIS
IMF Working Paper-Discriminatory Pricing of Over-the-Counter Derivatives
May 7, 2019--Summary:
New regulatory data reveal extensive price discrimination against non-financial clients in the FX derivatives market. The client at the 90th percentile pays an effective spread of 0.5%, while the bottom quarter incur transaction costs of less than 0.02%.
Consistent with models of search frictions in over-the-counter markets, dealers charge higher spreads to less sophisticated clients. However, price discrimination is eliminated when clients trade through multi-dealer request-for-quote platforms. We also document that dealers extract rents from captive clients and market opacity, but only for contracts negotiated bilaterally with unsophisticated clients.
view IMF Working Paper-Discriminatory Pricing of Over-the-Counter Derivatives
Source: IMF
Growth and economic well-being: fourth quarter 2018, OECD
May 7, 2019--OECD household income growth picks up in the fourth quarter of 2018, outpacing GDP growth
Growth in real household income per capita, which provides a better picture of changes in households' economic well-being than real GDP growth per capita, picked up to 0.5% in the OECD area in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with 0.1% in the third quarter of 2018, outpacing real GDP growth per capita, which stood at 0.2% in the fourth quarter.
Source: OECD
World Gold Council-Global gold-backed ETF holdings fell 2% in April, resulting in net 2019 outflows to date
May 7, 2019--In April, holdings in global gold-backed ETFs and similar products fell across all regions by 57 tonnes(t) to 2,424t, equivalent to US$2.2bn in outflows. Global assets under management (AUM) in US dollars fell by 3% to US$100bn, as the price of gold of gold fell 1% during the month. Global gold-backed ETFs have now lost assets of US$377mn, 0.4% AUM on the year, reversing January's strong start.
Regional fund flows
North American funds saw outflows of 46t (US$1.9bn, 3.7% AUM)**
Holdings in European funds fell by 8t (US$257mn, 0.6%)
Funds listed in Asia decreased by 2.5t (US$114mn, 4%)
Other regions saw outflows of 0.4t (US$16mn, 1.3%).
Individual fund flows
In North America, SPDR(R) Gold Shares lost 38t (US$1.6bn, 5%) and iShares Gold Trust lost 6t (US$252mn, 2%), the lion's share of the region's outflows
iShares Physical Gold and ETFS Physical Gold in the UK each lost ˜6t, collectively losing around US$500mn
Source: World Gold Council
