Global ETF News Older than One Year
BetaShares-Super Tuesday
April 1, 2019--Week in Review
Global equities recovered somewhat last week, perhaps encouraged by the fact that while most global growth indicators have softened in recent months, they're overall still consistent with at least moderate growth (i.e. no recession) and low inflation. Central banks are also not deaf, with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand becoming the latest to turn dovish-indicating the next move in rates would now likely be down.
Bond yields continued to edge lower, with the US market now fully pricing a Fed rate cut by year-end!
Against this backdrop, one positive report last week was a better than expected improvement in Germany's key IFO business sentiment indicator in March. The final estimate of US Q4 annualised GDP growth was also reasonable, revealing a close-to-trend pace of 2.2%.
Source: BetaShares
Sizing the Impact Investing Market
April 1, 2019--The Global Impact Investing Network's Sizing the Impact Investing Market report, provides an in-depth analysis of the current size and composition of the impact investing market. The GIIN estimates the current size of the global impact investing market to be $502 billion.
Representing the most comprehensive study to date, the Sizing the Impact Investing Market report is the most rigorous analysis and estimate of the size of the impact investing market. Based on the collation of AUM data on more than 1,300 impact investors around the world, this research also underscores the diversity of the market, capturing data from many types of investors.
view the GIIN Sizing the Impact Investing Market report
Source: Global Impact Investing Network
FTSE Russell-China's retail investment market: Implications for minimum variance
April 1, 2019--Index IDEA: The global equity bounce back
Following a challenging 2018 for equity markets around the world, global equity markets have bounced back in a major way thus far in 2019, helped by the rapid easing in global financial conditions led by the US Federal Reserve's more accommodative policy stance.
China's retail investment market: Implications for minimum variance
Over the years, China has grown to be the second largest economy and the host of the second largest stock market, second only to the United States. The China A-Shares market, which was previously only available to domestic investors, continues to open up to international investors through a series of reforms and increased access channels.
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Source: FTSE Russell
Watchdogs probe systemic risks of passive fund growth
March 31, 2019--The growing weight of money committed to ETFs by asset managers is attracting more scrutiny
Financial regulators across the world are increasingly focused on potential dangers of exchange traded funds, which now account for $5.2tn of assets globally.The growth in ETFs has been encouraged by disenchantment at the high fees and poor performance of many traditional active managers that pick stocks and bonds with the aim of beating the market.
Source: FT.com
BIS-Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange and OTC derivatives markets in 2016
March 29, 2019--The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today launched the 12th Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Over-The-Counter (OTC) Derivatives Markets.
Conducted every three years since 1986, the Triennial Survey is the most comprehensive source of information on the size and structure of global foreign exchange and OTC derivatives markets.
It aims to help central banks, other authorities and market participants monitor developments in OTC markets and inform discussions about reforms to OTC markets.
The previous survey, in April 2016, showed that trading in foreign exchange spot and OTC derivatives markets averaged $5.1 trillion per day.
Source: BIS
JPMorgan and BofA Lead Race for Blockchain Banking Supremacy
March 29, 2019--JPMorgan and Bank of America lead the pack when it comes to implementing blockchain in the financial sector. In fact, the competition isn't even close.
Between patents, job hiring, and huge technology budgets, it seems unlikely that smaller banks will be able to compete in any substantive way.
JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have the largest technology budgets of the 175 banks surveyed recently by UBS.
Source: breakermag.com
IMF Working Paper-Gains from Anchoring Inflation Expectations: Evidence from the Taper Tantrum Shock
March 28, 201--Summary:
Many argue that improvements in monetary policy frameworks in emerging market economies over the past few decades, have made them more resilient to external shocks. This paper exploits the May 2013 taper tantrum in the United States to study the reaction of 18 large emerging markets to an external shock, conditioning on their degree of inflation expectations' anchoring.
We finnd that while the tapering announcement negatively affected growth prospects regardless of the level of anchoring, countries with weakly anchored inflation expectations experienced larger exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices, hence comparatively higher inflation. We conclude that efforts to improve the extent of anchoring of inflation expectations in emerging markets pay off, as they ease the trade-off that central banks face when external shocks weaken growth prospects and trigger currency depreciations.
Source: IMF
Do Bear markets require recession?
March 27, 2019--This article explores the link between bear markets and recessions. Is a bear market the inevitable consequence of a recession? How often does a bear market occur in the absence of a recession? David Bassanese looks at what history tells us about what might lie ahead.
With global growth slowing there is understandable concern that the decade long global bull market could be finally coming to an end. This note suggests, however, that bear markets still remain a relatively rare occurrence, and even rarer in the absence of a US recession.
Equity markets are inherently volatile
The chart below details daily drawdowns in the US S&P 500 price index since the mid-1950s, along with shaded periods of recession as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Several features are noteworthy from the chart.
Source: BetaShares
Global Green Finance Index 3-European Centres Lead The Green Finance Index, Spotlight On Fossil Fuels
March 27, 2019--Green rankings not affected by level of fossil fuel financing
Amsterdam and London continue to lead the latest global rankings of green financial centres, according to the latest edition of the Global Green Finance Index. Copenhagen, Zurich and Paris are close behind.
The Global Green Finance Index (GGFI) is published every six months and ranks global financial centres according to the depth and quality of their green finance offerings. In today's report, GGFI 3:
Amsterdam came first for depth, with Zurich and Copenhagen equal second. London dropped to fifth place
In the quality rankings, London and Paris retained the leading two places
In North America, Montreal came first for depth and San Francisco first for quality, although Canadian centres outperformed the US
In Asia/Pacific, Shanghai came first for depth, and Sydney took the top place for quality
view the The Global Green Finance Index 3
Source: Long Finance
World Gold Council-Market Update Investor insights: gold in Islamic investment
March 27, 2019--Following the launch of the AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard on Gold in 2016, we have engaged with Islamic banks and financial institutions to develop the market for Shari'ah-compliant gold-backed products.1 As part of this we undertook research to understand how investors view Islamic finance, their attitudes towards gold, and preferences for gold-backed products.
The insights summarised in this update will help banks and other institutions to launch gold-backed financial products that meet the needs of modern Islamic investors.
Gold in Islamic finance
Gold has a long association with Islamic finance. For centuries, the gold Dinar was the currency and trading standard of the Islamic world. But as Islamic finance grew and developed, so did the need for clarity around the Shari'ah treatment of gold.
In 2016, the rules for trading gold were codified in a single Standard: the AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard on gold. This removed one of the barriers preventing the development of gold-backed products in Islamic finance.
Source: World Gold Council
