Global ETF News Older than One Year
ETFGI reports Smart Beta ETFs and ETPs listed globally gather net inflows of US$12.42 Bn during December 2018
January 30, 2019--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that equity-based Smart Beta ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of US$12.42 billion during December.
Total assets invested in the global Smart Beta ETF and ETP industry decreased 7.08%, from US$665 billion at the end of November, to US$618 Bn, according to ETFGI’s December 2018 ETF and ETP Smart Beta industry landscape insights report, an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
In 2018, Smart Beta ETFs/ETPs attracted $77.62 Bn in net new assets.
Over the year, 141 Smart Beta ETFs/ETPs were launched by 72 providers.
Source: ETFGI
World Gold Council-Cryptocurrencies are not a safe-haven
January 29, 2019--In Q4 2018, as global stock markets experienced their worst quarter since 2009, cryptocurrencies had a prime opportunity to demonstrate qualities associated with safe havens like gold.
However, cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, behaved like risky assets and fell while gold rallied.
Source: World Gold Council
Global Robotics: potential value opportunities following the market pull back
January 29, 2019--As a high growth sector with strong exposure to Asian markets, it's no surprise that global robotics companies suffered a setback with the downturn in global equity markets in 2018.
That said, given the strong longer-term outlook for robotics remains generally undiminished, the recent pull back in prices has improved valuations and may provide investors an entry point into this attractive investment theme.*
Market pull back drags down robots
Along with the downturn in global markets and Asian sharemarkets in particular, many listed global robotic companies suffered a share price correction last year.
Source: BetaShares
First Bridge Data'ETF 20/20': Exchange Traded Funds-Reviewing 2018
January 28, 2019--Key Highlights
This month's report briefly summarizes Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) trends globally in 2018. It uses data from the First Bridge ETF database that includes all global ETPs.
Key industry developments in 2018 included the US SEC's proposed rule 6c-11 to simplify ETF approvals; the issuance of a regulatory summary statement by the Central Bank of Ireland; the creation of the Communications Services GICS sector and the addition of Chinese 'A' Shares to MSCI's emerging market indices.
Global ETF assets were $4.89T as of December 31, 2018, flat from the previous year-end with net inflows offsetting market declines.
The market share for the top index providers was virtually unchanged from year-end 2017. Among the fund sponsors, leaders Blackrock (36%) and Vanguard (19%) did not significantly change their market share in 2018. State Street's global market share declined by one percent to 13%, with Invesco gaining 1% after its acquisition of Guggenheim's ETF business in the US to reach 4% of global ETF assets.
Active ETFs increased their share of global ETF assets from 1.6% to 2.2% in 2018. Smart beta ETFs also grew share from 9.7% to 9.9%.
There were 1728 new listings globally in 2018, including cross-listings.
In a year that saw equity volatility spike up, VIX futures was the best performing ETF category in the US in 2018, along with cocoa futures and Qatar equities. Rare earth metals, oil services and Turkish equities were the weakest ETF categories.
Source: First Bridge Data
Investors Remain Enamored by Passively Managed Funds in 2018
January 25, 2019--Passively managed funds (including conventional funds and ETFs) attracted $445.1 billion in 2018, while their actively managed counterparts handed back some $282.9 billion (ex-money market funds) for the same time period.
Except for the commodities funds macro-group, investors appeared to prefer passively managed funds for all of Lipper's broad-based macro-groups, a change from 2017 when investors were as equally enamored by actively managed taxable fixed income funds and municipal debt funds as they were of their passively managed brethren.
Source: Refinitiv
IMF Working Paper-Commodity Terms of Trade: A New Database
January 24, 2019--This paper presents a comprehensive database of country-specific commodity price indices for 182 economies covering the period 1962-2018. For each country, the change in the international price of up to 45 individual commodities is weighted using commodity-level trade data.
The database includes a commodity terms-of-trade index which proxies the windfall gains and losses of income associated with changes in world prices as well as additional country-specific series, including commodity export and import price indices. We provide indices that are constructed using, alternatively, fixed weights (based on average trade flows over several decades) and time-varying weights (which can account for time variation in the mix of commodities traded and the overall importance of commodities in economic activity). The paper also discusses the dynamics of commodity terms of trade across country groups and their influence on key macroeconomic aggregates.
view the IMF Working Paper-Commodity Terms of Trade: A New Database
Source: IMF
Committee on the Global Financial System report outlines ways to boost domestic capital markets
January 23, 2019--Policymakers and stakeholders can do more to promote the development of robust and efficient capital markets, according to a new report by the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS).
Establishing viable capital markets finds that large differences persist in the size of capital markets across advanced and emerging economies. Emerging-economy markets have been catching up with their more advanced peers, but the gap has not yet been closed.
Source: BIS
Research reveals poor understanding of blockchain amongst senior business executives
January 22, 2019--Despite this, institutional investors expect companies to dramatically increase their investment in this technology over the next few years
Banking/ finance is widely seen as the sector that will be transformed the most by blockchain
39% of investors believe the impact of blockchain on banking could be as big as that of the internet on the media
New research amongst institutional investors from the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC)-the leading association for the blockchain ecosystem-reveals 63% believe senior executives at large established businesses have a poor understanding of blockchain. Only 7% described their understanding as 'good', with the remainder describing it as 'average'.
Source: coingeek.com
AI to outperform human credit decisions by 2024-survey
January 22, 2019--Artificial intelligence (AI) will produce more accurate, reliable and transparent credit decisions than human-based systems within five years, according to capital markets professionals surveyed by Intertrust.
Intertrust, a global leader in providing expert administrative services to clients operating and investing in the international business environment, surveyed over 500 capital markets executives to identify the impact that disruptive technology is having on jobs and skills.
Of these, one in six (14%) believe that AI has already surpassed human-based systems.
Source: finextra.com
The World Federation of Exchanges publishes second report on factors that drive international investor participation in emerging markets
January 21, 2019--The World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE"), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, has today published a report-from the investor viewpoint-that seeks to understand what encourages or discourages international investor participation in emerging markets.
The purpose of today's research report, written with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), is to provide exchange operators, securities regulators and policy-makers with greater insight into the factors that drive investment decisions, as reported by investors themselves.
view the 'Attracting international investors to emerging markets' report
Source: World Federation of Exchanges
