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Institutional investors looking more closely into companies, boards-Morrow Sodali
February 11, 2019--Asset owners and managers continue to "dig deeper" into how their portfolio companies are dealing with issues such as ESG, executive pay and activism, and away from compliance checklists, according to Morrow Sodali's Institutional Investor Survey released Monday.
"Shareholders are increasingly interested in looking at companies on the merits rather than just doing a compliance exercise," said John Wilcox, chairman of Morrow Sodali, a global corporate governance firm, in an interview.
Global ETF Investors Rank Historical Performance as Top Criteria for Choosing an ETF
February 11, 2019--Defying industry assumptions that cost is everything, Brown Brothers Harriman's ETF survey finds additional criteria are increasingly being considered
The survey, which measured the expectations and preferences of 300 institutional investors, financial advisers, and fund managers from around the world, also found that investors are placing greater importance on ETF issuer than they have in years past. This year, BBH combined what was previously a regional breakdown into a single global survey of ETF investors in the United States, Europe, and Greater China.
view the Brown Brothers Harriman 2019 Global ETF Investor Survey Results
Sovereign borrowing outlook for OECD countries, 2007 to 2019-Gross borrowings of OECD governments from the market are set to reach a new record level in 2019 by exceeding USD 11 trillion
February 8, 2019--This report examines net and gross sovereign borrowing in OECD countries from 2007 to 2019. It first looks at net and gross borrowing needs of OECD governments in the context of fiscal developments. It then considers recent trends in central government marketable debt in the OECD area and central government debt ratios for groups of selected OECD countries. Finally, the report examines funding strategies and growing issuance of debt with 30 or more years of maturities.
Key findings
Gross borrowings of OECD governments from the markets, which peaked at USD 10.9 trillion in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis, are set to reach a new record level in 2019 by exceeding USD 11 trillion. While government funding needs in the wake of the financial crisis increased in most OECD countries, the recent further increase is confined to a few countries, particularly the United States.
In 2017, the new debt issuance of OECD governments to the markets registered the lowest level since 2008, but increased by USD 600 billion to USD 1.9 trillion in 2018 and is projected to exceed USD 2 trillion in 2019.
IOSCO practices aim to create robust framework for commodities' storage and delivery
February 7, 2019--The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today published a report that sets out good or sound practices to assist relevant storage infrastructures and their oversight bodies to identify and address issues that could influence the pricing of commodity derivatives and in turn affect market integrity and efficiency.
In its final report, Commodity Storage and Delivery Infrastructures: Good or Sound Practices, IOSCO identifies a number of issues that may apply to storage infrastructures and sets forth a range of possible actions to mitigate them. The practices are intended to benefit the activities of market participants regarding:
physical commodities, which are the tangible or cash market goods which underlie derivative contracts that are subject to financial regulation; and
commodity derivatives, which are financial instruments whose price is derived from the underlying physical or cash market commodities.
The good news on pensions: sustainable equals profitable
February 7, 2019--Would you be interested in investing in companies that produce nuclear weapons? Or companies that damage the environment, pollute our seas or violate human rights? Or companies that have been related to corruption scandals? If your answer is "no", unfortunately it is likely that you are investing in some way in these types of companies today.
How can we avoid this? The solution could be in your pension funds, given the global investments they make on your behalf. Companies with excellent certified behavior currently represent only between 20% and 45% of the total. The question for both policymakers and citizens is: would you be willing to invest in companies that avoid unacceptable behavior?
Growth and economic well-being: third quarter 2018, OECD
OECD household income growth continues to lag GDP growth in third quarter of 2018
February 7, 2019--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, slowed to 0.1 % in the OECD area in the third quarter of 2018, compared with 0.2% in the second quarter of 2018.
While real GDP per capita growth slowed more significantly (to 0.3% from 0.6% in the second quarter of 2018), it continued to outpace growth in real household income per capita.
FTSE Russell-Multi-asset benchmarks for US investors
February 7, 2019--FTSE Russell is proud to announce the launch of the FTSE Market Based Allocation Index Series, a new set of benchmarks designed to represent the performance of multi-asset investment portfolios across objectively-defined risk tolerance profiles.
Drawing on FTSE Russell's extensive index capabilities across equity and fixed income globally, the new series initially comprises five indexes designed for the US wealth management and financial advisory community, bridging a gap in index coverage for this important and growing market.
Countries' perceptions of China's Belt and Road Initiative: A big data analysis
February 6, 2019--Drawing on a global database of media articles, the authors quantitatively assess perceptions of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in different countries and regions. They also identify the topics that are most frequently associated with the BRI.
Drawing on a global database of media articles, we quantitatively assess perceptions of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in different countries and regions. We find that the BRI is generally positively received. All regions as a whole, except South Asia, have a positive perception of the BRI, but there are marked differences at the country level, with some countries in all regions having very negative views. Interestingly, there is no significant difference in perceptions of the BRI between countries that officially participate in the BRI and those that do not.
We also use our dataset of media articles to identify the topics that are most frequently associated with the BRI. The most common topics are trade and investment. Finally, we use regression analysis to identify how the frequency with which these topics are discussed in the news affects the perceptions of the BRI in different countries. We find that the more frequently trade is mentioned in the media, the more negative a country's perception of the BRI tends to be.
view the Countries' Perceptions of China's Belt and Road
Initiative: A Big Data Analysis
World Gold Council-Global gold-backed ETFs continued their strong growth in January
February 6, 2019--Holdings in global gold-backed ETFs and similar products rose in January by 72 tonnes(t) to 2,513t, equivalent to US$3.1bn in inflows, marking the fourth consecutive month of net inflows. Notably, total holdings have not been this high since March 2013, when the price of gold was 22% higher.
Global gold-backed ETF holdings have grown 6% over the past two months, driven by market uncertainty and a shift in sentiment that drove the price of gold 3.5% higher in January alone. Global assets under management (AUM) rose by 6% in US dollars to US$107bn over the month.
ETFGI reports asset growth and net inflows in global ETFs ETPs industry continues to outpace global Hedge Fund industry in Q4 2018
February 6, 2019--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed globally amounted to US$4.82 trillion at the end of Q4 2018, following net inflows of US$164.84 billion and market moves during Q4. The Global Hedge Fund industry saw assets fall to US$3.11trillion, with net outflows of US$22.5 billion during the quarter (source: hedge fund data HFR), according to ETFGI's Q4 2018 Global ETF and ETP industry landscape report a paid for subscription research service.
(All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Asset growth and net inflows in global ETF/ETP industry continues to outpace global Hedge Fund industry.
$4.82 trillion invested in 7,620 ETFs/ETPs listed globally at end of 2018.