Global ETF News Older than One Year
ETF investor inflows tumble 28% in first quarter
April 10, 2019--Lyxor and State Street Global Advisors among worst performers so far in 2019
ETF investor inflows tumble 28% in first quarter
This year's battle between providers of exchange traded funds to drum up new business has made an anaemic start with worldwide investor inflows down more than a quarter in the first three months.
Source: FT.com
Global Business Value Of Artificial Intelligence In Banking To Reach $300 Billion By 2030, IHS Markit Says
April 10, 2019--Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the banking sector by detecting fraud in financial transactions on the basis of a pre-defined set of rules. In 2018 AI in banking business was estimated to be $41.1 billion, which includes the cost savings and efficiencies of introducing AI technology compared to keeping existing infrastructures and processes.
With the projected increase in the number of AI projects that are launched and become commercially deployed, the business value of AI in banking is projected to reach $300 billion by 2030, according to global business information provider IHS Markit (NASDAQ: INFO).
Source: technology.ihs.com
Deutsche Boerse to pay $850m for analytics firm AxiomaDeutsche Boerse to pay $850m for analytics firm Axioma
April 9, 2019--German exchange operator Deutsche Börse is buying Axioma for $850 million and combining the analytics specialist with its index businesses in a new company.
US-based Axioma will be rolled in with Deutsche Börse-owned Stoxx and Dax in a new company with a valuation of EUR2.6 billion and led by Axioma CEO Sebastian Ceria.
Source: finextra.com
SocGen Is Latest Bank to Shutter Its Commodities Business
April 9, 2019--Bank Shutting OTC commodities business, trading subsidiary
Comes after BNP shut its U.S commodities derivatives desk
Add Societe Generale SA to the list of banks and financial institutions to take a big step back from commodities amid a slump in trading profits.
The French bank said on Tuesday that it is planning to close its over-the-counter commodities business and its proprietary trading subsidiary as part of a global move to cut about 1,600 jobs after a slump in trading revenue.
Source: Bloomberg
Machine-learning on the rise in financial services: Refinitiv
April 9, 2019--The use of machine-learning has picked up across the financial services industry, although problems such as data quality continue to dog its progress, a study by Refinitiv has found.
In a report, Refinitiv, the financial data provider, said more than 90 percent of the organizations it surveyed had either deployed machine-learning in multiple areas of the organization or have made a start in some pockets.
Source: Reuters
IMF Working Paper-Illuminating Economic Growth
April 9, 2019--Summary:
This paper seeks to illuminate the uncertainty in official GDP per capita measures using auxiliary data. Using satellite-recorded nighttime lights as an additional measurement of true GDP per capita, we provide a statistical framework, in which the error in official GDP per capita may depend on the country's statistical capacity and the relationship between nighttime lights and true GDP per capita can be nonlinear and vary with geographic location.
This paper uses recently developed results for measurement error models to identify and estimate the nonlinear relationship between nighttime lights and true GDP per capita and the nonparametric distribution of errors in official GDP per capita data.
We then construct more precise and robust measures of GDP per capita using nighttime lights, official national accounts data, statistical capacity, and geographic locations. We find that GDP per capita measures are less precise for middle and low income countries and nighttime lights can play a bigger role in improving such measures.
IMF Working Paper-Illuminating Economic Growth
Source: IMF
Bassanese Bites: Beautiful Numbers
April 8, 2019--Week in Review
To paraphrase former PM Paul Keating, last week produced a fairly consistent set of "beautiful numbers" across the global economy. Key manufacturing indices in both the US and China were better than expected and suggest tentative signs of recovery due to easing trade tensions, the Fed's dovish tilt and renewed Chinese stimulus.
Service sector activity in both economies also remained at robust levels. And while US retail spending was softer than expected in February, this was more than offset by a solid upward revision to January's report.
Of course, the most beautiful set of numbers came in the US payrolls report, with better than expected employment growth and softer than feared wage growth.
Source: BetaShares
IFC Report Estimates Investors Appetite for Impact Investing Could Be as High as $26 Trillion
April 8, 2019-Investors' appetite for impact investing-in which they seek to generate positive impact for society alongside strong financial returns-could be as much as $26 trillion, according to a new report issued by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.
The report, Creating Impact: The Promise of Impact Investing, is the most comprehensive assessment so far of the potential global market for impact investing. As much as $268 trillion-the financial assets held by institutions and households across the world-is potentially available for investment. The report notes that if just 10 percent of this were channeled toward investments focused on improving social and environmental outcomes, it would go a long way toward providing the funding necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals while also facilitating a shift to a low-carbon future.
view the IFC-Creating Impact-The Promise of Impact Investing report
Source: IFC
This new form of currency could transform the way we see money
April 6, 2019--Central banks around the world are experimenting with so-called Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). But what is it and why does it matter?
CBDC is a digitized version of domestic currency where the central bank issues new money equivalent to-and redeemable for-its domestic currency, often removing the equivalent amount of currency from the money supply.
It could be issued using distributed ledger technology, where transactions would operate and settle on a peer-to-peer basis.
CBDC may be issued for general use ("retail" CBDC) for peer-to-peer payments and payments from consumers to merchants; or for use by commercial banks and clearing houses ("wholesale" CBDC) for more efficient interbank payments that occur outside traditional correspondent banking and other payment systems.
view more Source: World Economic Forum
Source: World Economic Forum
As Growth Slows in Europe and Central Asia, Financial Inclusion Can Play Key Role Addressing Long-Term Challenges
April 5, 2019--Economic growth in the Europe and Central Asia region slowed to 3.1% in 2018, and is projected to decline to 2.1% in 2019, amid slowing global growth and uncertain prospects, according to the World Bank's Economic Update for Europe and Central Asia, released today.
Growth in countries across the region varied. Upward revisions to GDP data for Russia, the largest economy in the region, contributed strongly to regional growth, alongside accelerating growth in Albania, Hungary, Poland, and Serbia. Meanwhile, Turkey experienced a severe slowdown, triggered by financial market and currency pressures-growth is forecast at 1.0% for 2019, a major decline from 7.4% in 2017.
view the World Bank Europe and Central Asia Economic Update, Spring 2019: Financial Inclusion
Source: World Bank
