First Bridge Data-ETF Worldwide Snapshot-Mar 2019
March 20, 2019--Key Highlights
Our monthly 'ETF 20/20' report briefly summarizes recent Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) trends globally. It uses data from the First Bridge ETF database that includes all global ETPs.
Global ETP assets increased in February 2019 to $5.42T.
Salt Financial, a small ETF manager, filed an amendment with the US SEC to pay investors 0.05% on an ETF it launched recently ('LSLT') till the fund reaches $100M in assets.
It is the first time an ETF manager has proposed a 'negative' fee and is pending review by the SEC.
Vanguard has designated 13 of its ETFs as 'select' ETFs that it recommends as core ETFs for portfolio construction. It is a response to similar moves by Blackrock and State Street in recent years.
There were only 9 new ETF listings in the US and 124 outside the US (including cross-listings and share class variants) in February 2019.
Marijuana, China 'A share' small caps and genomics stocks were among the best performing ETF categories this year to date through March 18, 2019. VIX, shipping and agriculture futures were the worst performing categories in the same period.
Source: First Bridge Data
CryptoCompare Publishes Exchange Review for February 2019
March 19, 2019-- CryptoCompare today published its February 2019 Exchange Review, offering institutional and retail investors insights into the cryptocurrency exchange industry.
The February Monthly Review provides the latest exchange rankings; an evaluation of spot vs futures volumes including both crypto exchanges (BitMEX and BitflyerFX) and traditional exchanges (CBOE and CME); and an evaluation of volumes for the top trans-fee mining and decentralised exchanges.
New charts include an overview of derivatives exchanges with volume data from OKEx, CryptoFacilities and Deribit. In addition, a short trade data analysis for the end of February covers a selection of exchanges that trade either BTC to USD or USDT.
In our view, the combination of rangebound US interest rates, a slowdown in the appreciation of the US dollar and continued market risks will continue to make gold attractive to investors.
Source: World Gold Council
New factor research-Factor valuation considerations
The situation is even more intricate in the case of factor indexes. The way factor indexes are constructed may introduce time-varying exposures to other factors, further muddying the valuation picture. view the FTSE Russell Factor valuation
considerations paper
Source: FTSE Russell
The Eurekahedge Report March 2019
The global hedge fund industry saw performance growth totalling US$39.5 billion over the first two months of 2019, supported by the global equity market performance since the beginning of the year. Despite the positive performance figures, net investor redemptions stood at US$15.1 billion over the same period.
Source: Eurekahedge
IMF Working Paper-Fundamental and Speculative Demands for Housing
Optimality conditions of producing housing services determine user-cost-of-housing and the elasticity of substitution between land and structures in producing housing services. I find that the impact of demand for housing services on house prices is amplified by a small elasticity of substitution, and demand explained four fifths of the U.S. house price boom in the 2000s.
A net 25% of surveyed money managers this month expect global growth to weaken over the next 12 months, up 22 percentage points from the previous month. Meanwhile, 59% of managers are bearish on both the growth and inflation outlook for the global economy over the next 12 months, the highest since October 2016, cementing the return of secular stagnation as the consensus view among investors.
Source: pionline.com
IMF Working Papers-Liquidity Management under Fixed Exchange Rate with Open Capital Account
The paper then discusses operational solutions that stabilize money market rates close to the level implied by the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity (UIP). Liquidity management under fixed exchange rate with an open capital account presents specific challenges due to: (1) the larger liquidity shocks induced by foreign reserve swings that challenge the development of money markets; and (2) more complicated liquidity forecasts. The theoretical framework is empirically tested based on the estimate of "offset" coefficients for Denmark and Hong Kong SAR. view the IMF Working Papers-Liquidity Management under Fixed Exchange Rate with Open Capital Account
Source: IMF
Bassanese Bites: Two or less?
Lurking in the background is growing confidence that the US and China will eventually settle their trade differences, although there is no longer an explicit deadline in place. Even more important than the actual deal itself is growing recognition that neither side appears to have the appetite to escalate tensions further-through tit-for-tat tariff increases. In terms of key market moves, US and Australian 10-year bond yields broke to new lows in the downtrend that has been in place since late last year.
Economic news was less reassuring elsewhere. German industrial production was weaker than expected in January, though temporary factors like strikes and model change-over disruptions were blamed. China’s monthly “data dump” was also soft, with ongoing weakness in retail sales and industrial production-though again hope springs eternal that the Government is set to re-stimulate the economy.
In Australia, the negative news also continued: the NAB index of business conditions slipped back in February, consumer confidence dropped and home loan approvals dropped further.
Source: BetaShares
APs Embrace Equity ETFs in February, While Fund Investors Turn Risk-Averse
While investors continued to embrace news that trade talks between the U.S. and China were advancing and cheered a softer, gentler Federal Reserve Board-pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its ninth consecutive week of plus-side returns-they turned a cold shoulder to equity funds. For the ninth month in ten, stock & mixed-asset funds witnessed net outflows (-$10.3 billion) for February. With investors' renewed search for yield, the fixed income funds macro-group witnessed net inflows for the second month in a row, taking in $36.3 billion-their largest haul since February 2018.
Source: Refinitiv
March 19, 2019--In our latest factor research paper we examine how the increasing popularity of factor investing has raised questions about the valuation of factors. As with individual stocks, there is no definitive valuation metric that provides a clear answer, and different valuation metrics may well result in different conclusions.
March 19, 2019--Highlights from this month's report
The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index gained 0.89% in February, bringing its year-to-date return to 3.26%. The risk-on sentiment among investors driven by the Fed's patient stance and optimism over the potential resolution of the US-China trade tension persisted through the month, sending global equity markets on a rally through February.
March 19, 2019--Summary:
This paper separates the roles of demand for housing services and belief about future house prices in a house price cycle, by utilizing a feature of user-cost-of-housing that it is sensitive to demand for housing services only.
March 18, 2019--Summary:
This paper introduces a theoretical framework for liquidity management under fixed exchange rate arrangement, derived from the price-specie flow mechanism of David Hume. The framework highlights that the risk of short-term money market rates un-anchoring from the uncovered interest rate parity due to money and foreign exchange market frictions could jeopardize financial stability and market development.
March 18, 2019--Week in Review
Confidence returned to global equities last week-after a modest pull back over the previous week-largely due to reassuring US economic data. US retail sales rebounded nicely in January-after worrying softness in Q4-while the US CPI also remained comfortably benign.
March 18, 2019--For the second month in a row, investors were net purchasers of mutual fund assets, injecting $64.4 billion into the conventional funds business (excluding ETFs, which are reviewed in the section below) for February. However, the headline number is slightly misleading.
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