Robo advisers short circuit over ethical investing
September 13, 2018--A rift is emerging between rival robo advisers over the suitability of ready-made ethical investment portfolios, with several platforms arguing that the market is not mature enough to support fully diversified products.
Source: FT.com
FTSE Russell to decide on China A-shares inclusion "very soon"
September 13, 2018--FTSE Russell will decide in the coming weeks whether to include China-listed equities in its indices, the index provider's chief executive said.
Source: FT.com
Global Financial Centres Index 24
September 12, 2018--Today Z/Yen Partners and the China Development Institute(CDI) publish the twenty-fourth Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 24).
Not for the first time, New York took first place in the index, just two points head of London. However both centres fell slightly in the ratings.
Hong Kong is now only three points behind London. Shanghai overtook Tokyo to move into fifth place in the index gaining 25 points in the ratings. Beijing, Zurich, and Frankfurt moved into the top ten centres, replacing Toronto, Boston, and San Francisco.
In Western Europe, Zurich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Milan moved up the rankings significantly. These centres may be the main beneficiaries of the uncertainty caused by Brexit. Surprisingly, despite some evident success in attracting new business, Dublin, Munich, Hamburg, Copenhagen, and Stockholm fell in the rankings, reflecting respondents' views of their future prospects.
view the The Global Financial Centres Index 24 September 2018
Source: longfinance.net
IMF Working Papers-Dollarization and Financial Development
September 11, 2018--Summary:
Despite significant strides in financial development over the past decades, financial dollarization, as reflected in elevated shares of foreign currency deposits and credit in the banking system, remains common in developing economies. We study the impact of financial dollarization, differentiating across foreign currency deposits and credit on financial depth, access and efficiency for a large sample of emerging market and developing countries over the past two decades.
Panel regressions estimated using system GMM show that deposit dollarization has a negative impact on financial deepening on average. This negative impact is dampened in cases with past periods of high inflation. There is also some evidence that dollarization hampers financial efficiency. The results suggest that policy efforts to reduce dollarization can spur faster and safer financial development.
view the IMF Working Papers-Dollarization and Financial Development
Source: IMF
Bassanese Bites-Wage Worry
September 10, 2018--Week in Review
Global equities were on the defensive last week reflecting rising trade tensions and a higher than expected US wage outcome. Contrary to hopes, no US-Canada trade deal was announced and instead Trump ratcheted up the trade angst by threatening more tariffs on China and hinting his next focus could be Japan.
Meanwhile, US payrolls on Friday revealed that annual growth in average hourly earnings hit 2.9%, contrary to a market expectation that it would remain steady at 2.7%. As seen in the chart below, annual growth in average earnings has displayed a volatile sawtooth pattern around a broadly steady trend in recent years, but it’s now again testing the top end of this range and a breakout (similar to that last evident in late 2015) could now be at hand.
Source: BetaShares
Fidelity raises stakes in price war
September 9, 2018--A shockwave hit the investment industry in August when asset manager Fidelity launched the first US zero-fee index-tracking mutual funds.
It was a daring effort to seize the initiative in an escalating price war. view more
Source: FT.com
BlackRock to expand its private investment activities
September 9, 2018--BlackRock plans to ramp up its private investment activities, concerned that the US stock market is being shrunk by the surge in buybacks.
Source: FT.com
How Mifid II is reshaping the trading landscape
September 9, 2018--Companies are facing challenges over transparency around liquidity and best execution.
Source: FT.com
Trade war fears spook mutual fund investors
September 8, 2018-- Investment industry heads for one of its worst years since the financial crisis.
Source: FT.com
The World Federation of Exchanges calls for global reform of Leverage Ratio
September 7, 2018--The World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE"), the global industry group for CCPs and exchanges, has today published its response to the four global standard-setting boards assessing the effectiveness of incentives to centrally clear over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
The WFE calls for prompt and concerted action internationally to address issues confirmed in the August 2018 consultation paper from 'the Committees': the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
Source: World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE")