Global ETF News Older than One Year
BIS-Statement on crypto-assets
March 13, 2019--The past few years have seen a growth in crypto-assets. While the crypto-asset market remains small relative to that of the global financial system, and banks currently have very limited direct exposures, the Committee is of the view that the continued growth of crypto-asset trading platforms and new financial products related to crypto-assets has the potential to raise financial stability concerns and increase risks faced by banks.
While crypto-assets are at times referred to as "crypto-currencies", the Committee is of the view that such assets do not reliably provide the standard functions of money and are unsafe to rely on as a medium of exchange or store of value. Crypto-assets are not legal tender, and are not backed by any government or public authority.1 Through this newsletter, the Basel Committee is setting out its prudential expectations related to banks' exposures to crypto-assets and related services, for those jurisdictions that do not prohibit such exposures and services.
Source: BIS
Strategic Beta ETF Market Still Expanding
March 13, 2019--Net new inflows into strategic-beta exchange traded products globally amounted to $87 billion, an organic growth rate of nearly 11%.
Strategic or smart exchange traded products (ETPs) continued to expand in 2018, with net new inflows of $87 billion, translating to an organic growth rate of nearly 11%.
Over the past decade-plus, strategic-beta ETPs' market share has expanded considerably. Growth has been driven by new cash flows, new launches, and the entrance of new players—some of which are traditional active managers. However, more recently, the pace of these products' market share gains has decelerated as exchange-traded funds tracking more-traditional benchmarks have been garnering their fair share of net new flows.
At the end of December 2018, there were 1,493 strategic-beta ETPs, with collective assets under management of approximately $797 billion worldwide.
Source: Morningstar
OECD-G20 GDP Growth Fourth quarter of 2018
March 13, 2019--Growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) in the G20 area was stable at 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018. according to provisional estimates while it slowed marginally in the OECD area (to 0.3%. from 0.4%).
Growth rebounded in Japan to 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018, following a contraction of 0.6% in the previous quarter.
Growth also picked up in Korea (to 1.0%. from 0.6%) and India (to 1.6%. from 1.5%) while it was nil in Germany following the previous quarter's contraction (of 0.2%). GDP growth was stable in France and the European Union (at 0.3%).
Source: OECD
Cyber attacks up 160% in finance
March 13, 2019--The number of cyber attacks on financial services more than doubled last year as a study reveals that 67% of financial organisations surveyed have reported an increase in cyber attacks over the past 12 months, while destructive attacks have increased 160% over the past year.
According to Carbon Black and Optiv Security, two cybersecurity firms, the attackers have become more aggressive in their approach and developed a strong will to persist with their campaigns.
Source: internationalinvestment.net
ETFGI reports assets invested in global ETF and ETP industry reached a record US$5.32 trillion at the end of February 2019
March 12, 2019-ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that ETFs and ETPs listed Globally gathered net inflows of US$44.31 billion in February, bringing year-to-date net inflows to US$61.66 billion.
Assets invested in the Global ETF/ETP industry finished the month up 3.15%, from US$5.16 trillion at the end of January, to reach a record US$5.32 trillion, according to ETFGI's February 2019 Global ETF and ETP industry landscape insights report, an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Assets invested in the Global ETF/ETP industry reached $5.32 Tn in February 2019, the highest on record.
Happy 39th anniversary to the ETF industry-first ETF the TIPs-Toronto 35 Index Participation units was listed in Canada on March 9, 1990.
Source: ETFGI
Long Finance-The Global Financial Centres Index 25
March 12, 2019--Highlights
Leading Centres; New York remains in first place in the index, just seven points head of London. Hong Kong is only four points behind London in third and Singapore remains in fourth place; Shanghai remains ahead of Tokyo in fifth place in the index although Tokyo gained ten points in the ratings; Toronto rose 27 points and gained four places to seventh.
Zurich, Beijing, and Frankfurt remained in the top ten.
Western Europe; This region did well after a mixed performance in GFCI 24. Thirteen of the top 15 Western European centres rose in the ratings with particularly strong performances by Monaco, Madrid and Edinburgh. Only Luxembourg and Amsterdam saw modest declines; The centres that are most likely to benefit from Brexit did well, with Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, and Dublin all gaining ground.
view the Long Finance-The Global Financial Centres Index 25 March 2019
Source: Long Finance
FTSE Russell-New research: Equal weighting refined
March 12, 2019--Equal weighting: one of the oldest and time-tested approaches to reduce concentration risk and enhance diversification.
FTSE Russell's newest research, "Russell 1000 Equal Weight Index: Equal weighting refined," explores the key differences of equal weighting over its cap-weighted counterparts and examines equal weighting's historically strong long-term performance record as a source of lower volatility as well as downside protection during crises.
Additionally, while most equal weight indexes only equally weight on the stock level, the Russell 1000 Equal Weight Index equally weights on both the sector and stock level, which has typically reduced volatility and drawdowns versus traditional constituent-only approaches.
Source: FTSE Russell
FIA Warns of Increased Market Fragmentation Caused by Regulation
March 12, 2019--FIA President and CEO Walt Lukken today released a white paper that expresses FIA's concerns about increased fragmentation of the global listed and cleared derivatives markets due to inconsistent and duplicative regulatory frameworks.
Further, the paper urges regulators to embrace the principles of reliance and regulatory cooperation and makes recommendations on how to avoid increased fragmentation in the regulation of cross-border activity in the global derivatives markets.
Derivatives markets are global in nature with transactions, clearing and settlement often happening in different countries, time zones and continents. The regulation of derivatives markets, however, is becoming more localized, with divergences in both the content of the rules and the pace of implementation. In addition, FIA observes that a number of national and regional regulators are moving toward more direct regulation of foreign activity and participation.
view the FIA White Paper Mitigating the Risk of Market Fragmentation
Source: FIA
Bassanese Bites: Global slowdown
March 11, 2019--Week in Review
Last week saw the first decent pull back in global equity markets since the impressive V-shaped recovery began just after Christmas. Growing uncertainty over when and if the US and China will actually conclude a trade deal weighted on sentiment, as did more concerns over slowing global economic growth.
Despite Trump's ongoing optimistic tweets, US negotiators appear to be downplaying the chances of any near-term deal with China being finalised, while the Chinese appear to have put off the talked about end-March "Mar-a-Lago" meeting with the US President. With Trump having already postponed the March 1 deadline for higher tariffs, China may well have decided to call Trump's bluff-and is hardening its resolve against making major trade concessions.
Source: BetaShares
Stability heightens flash crash risks-research
March 11, 2019--Liquidity breaks down when latent orders are revealed too slowly, quant firm says
Flash crashes are most likely to occur in stable markets when latent liquidity converts to real orders too slowly, new research from quants at Capital Fund Management suggests.
The firm's research is based on the idea that live prices in an order book represent only a fraction of the liquidity in markets. A much larger layer of latent liquidity- potential bids and offers...
Source: Risk.net
