Global ETF News Older than One Year
The Eurekahedge Report-July 2018
July 17, 2018--Highlights from this month's report
Hedge funds were down 0.34% in June with 1H 2018 returns barely hanging in the green with a flat 0.08% gain year-to-date. This would be the weakest first half performance of hedge funds on record since 2000. To contextualise, the strongest gain occurred in 1H 2009 when hedge funds gained 10.62% while the next weakest 1H performance came in 1H 2010 when managers posted gains of 0.91%.
Total hedge fund assets grew by US$8.8 billion over the past six months, which compares with a growth in total AUM of US$98.5 billion over the same period last year.
Rising US-China trade war tensions and a strengthening US dollar have spelled trouble for Asian hedge fund managers in 1H 2018. Greater China focused mandates are down 0.44%, though outperforming the Shanghai and Shenzhen composites by well over 10%. Korea mandated hedge funds are down 4.21% over the same period, ahead of the Kospi Index which is down 5.73%. Meanwhile India mandated hedge funds have struggled with losses of 5.26%, underperforming the BSE Sensex Index by 9.27% in the first half of 2018.
view the European Hedge Funds Infographic July 2018
Source: Eurekahedge
FSB report sets out framework to monitor crypto-asset markets
July 16, 2018--The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a report delivered to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on the work of the FSB and standard-setting bodies on crypto-assets.
For its part, the FSB has developed a framework, in collaboration with Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), to monitor the financial stability implications of developments in crypto-asset markets.
The report published today sets out the metrics that the FSB will use to monitor crypto-asset markets as part of its ongoing assessment of vulnerabilities in the financial system.
While the FSB believes that crypto-assets do not pose a material risk to global financial stability at this time, it recognises the need for vigilant monitoring in light of the speed of market developments.
Source: FSB
OECD economic scenarios to 2060 illustrate the long-run benefits of structural reforms
July 13, 2018--Policy choices made today can have important positive effects on future living standards, according to new long-term economic scenarios released by the OECD.
The Long View: Scenarios for the World Economy to 2060 extends the usual short-run horizon of economic forecasters to better illustrate the potential benefits of reforms to education, governance, labour market policies and product market regulations, whose effects play out over decades.
In a "business-as-usual" reference scenario without significant reforms, living standards (GDP per capita) in the OECD countries improve by between 1½ and 2% per annum over the coming 40 years. Living standards in the BRIICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa) grow faster, but decelerate from the 6% annual growth achieved over the last decade to just over 2% by 2060, leaving them at less than half the level seen in the leading countries.
view the OECD paper-The Long View: Scenarios for the world economy to 2060
Source: OECD
DECPG Global Weekly
July 13, 2018--TAKING STOCK
U.S. producer and consumer price inflation picked up in June
The U.S. government announced a new round of tariffs on Chinese products
Euro Area industrial output rebounded in May; investor confidence improved in July
China's inflation rose in June; export growth remained solid
EMDE bond sales fell sharply in June.
U.S. producer and consumer price inflation picked up in June. The U.S. headline producer price index (PPI) rose from 3.1 percent (y/y) in May to 3.4 percent in June, the largest increase since June 2011, as rising fuel prices pushed up the cost of services (Figure 1). The core PPI-which excludes food, energy, and trade services-was up 2.7 percent (y/y), from 2.6 percent in May. The headline consumer price index (CPI) rose to 2.9 percent (y/y) in June, the highest level since February 2012, from 2.8 percent in May, while the core CPI edged up to 2.3 percent from 2.2 percent in May.
Source: World Bank
ETFGI reports ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of US$8.69 billion during June 2018
July 13, 2018--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 US$8.69Bn in net inflows, the lowest monthly amount since January 2014 when the global ETF/ETP industry experienced net outflows of US$6.25Bn, according to ETFGI's June 2018 Global ETF and ETP industry landscape insights report, an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Net new assets gathered by ETFs/ETPs listed globally were $8.69Bn in June
53rd month of consecutive net inflows into ETFs/ETPs listed globally
442 new ETFs/ETPs have been listed in the first half of 2018, which is greater than the 408 new ETFs/ETPs in H1 2017
Source: ETFGI
ISDA Publishes Consultation on Benchmark Fallbacks
July 12, 2018--The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has launched a market-wide consultation on technical issues related to new benchmark fallbacks for derivatives contracts that reference certain interbank offered rates (IBORs). The consultation sets out options for adjustments that would apply to the fallback rate in the event an IBOR is permanently discontinued.
ISDA has been leading an industry effort to implement robust fallbacks for derivatives contracts referenced to certain IBORs since 2016, at the request of the Financial Stability Board's Official Sector Steering Group (FSB OSSG).
Source: ISDA
June ETF Flows: Is This the Start of an Endless Summer?
July 9, 2018--The idea of an "endless summer" originated with the 1960s surfing documentary bearing the same title. The premise is, with enough time and money, it's possible to follow summer around the world, making it endless.
Our endless summer is also a global story, but it's far from a free-spirited jaunt around the world to find the perfect breakers. Rather, we are riding an endless swell of uncertain political waves, stemming from the tit-for-tat trade negotiations battering the US, Europe and Asia.
The trouble stems from the fact that, despite the Trump administration's steadfast willingness to place tariffs on other nations, there is no clear strategy for the scope and timing of the next actions. So far, the path seems to be a random and reactive walk.
Source: spdr.com
These are the three main problems affecting blockchain
July 17, 2018--Traditionally, records have been maintained by centralised entities. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has provided us with a radical alternative to record information. DLT has the potential to be as ground-breaking as the invention of double-entry bookkeeping in 14th century Italy. It could revolutionise the record-keeping of financial transactions and ownership data.
Blockchains are a particular type of distributed ledger written by decentralised, usually anonymous groups of agents rather than known centralised parties. Consensus is attained by making the ledger publicly viewable and verifiable. Ideally, a ledger should:
record all information correctly;
be cost efficient; and
be fully decentralised to avoid any concentration of power.
Following the seminal white paper by Nakamoto (2008), much of the innovation in blockchain technology has been aimed at wresting power from centralised authorities or monopolies.
Source: World Economic Forum (WEF)
World Gold Council-Gold mid--year outlook 2018
July 16, 2018--In our outlook for second half of 2018, we have identified three key macro trends that will influence gold's behaviour:
positive but uneven global economic growth
trade wars and their impact on currency
rising inflation and an inverted yield curve.
Combined with attractive entry levels, we believe that these trends will increase gold's relevance for investors in the months ahead.
A rocky start for the year
The first half of 2018 proved quite eventful for financial markets. Stocks experienced a few pullbacks during the first quarter as geopolitical tensions rose but have been generally trading upward since the start of Q2. This was especially true in the US and Asia, where tech stocks captured most of the growth. So far, investors seemed to have shrugged off the escalating trade war rhetoric between the US and many of its trading partners or, at least, discounting the effect it may have on long-term economic growth.
Source: World Gold Council (WGC)
IMF Working paper-Commodity Price Movements and Banking Crises
July 6, 2018--Summary:
We develop an empirical model to predict banking crises in a sample of 60 low-income countries (LICs) over the 1981-2015 period. Given the recent emergence of financial sector stress associated with low commodity prices in several LICs, we assign price movements in primary commodities a key role in our model.
Accounting for changes in commodity prices significantly increases the predictive power of the model. The commodity price effect is economically substantial and robust to the inclusion of a wide array of potential drivers of banking crises. We confirm that net capital inflows increase the likelihood of a crisis; however, in contrast to recent findings for advanced and emerging economies, credit growth and capital flow surges play no significant role in predicting banking crises in LICs.
view the IMF Working paper-Commodity Price Movements and Banking Crises
Source: IMF
