Is BlackRock the Amazon.com of Investing?
October 11, 2017--BlackRock Inc. just rocked. Sort of.
The world's biggest asset manager reported Wednesday morning that its third quarter earnings rose 10 percent, solidly beating expectations for the first time in three quarters.
Source: Bloomberg
Bitcoin races to new record peak, shaking off September stumble
October 11, 2017--Bitcoin on Thursday roared to a fresh all time high, with traders shrugging off a bout of regulatory worries that sent it tumbling last month.
Source: FT.com
IOSCO analyzes other CRA products used to make investment and credit-related decisions
October 11, 2017--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today published a report titled Other CRA Products (OCPs), which provides market participants with a better understanding of certain non-traditional products and services offered by credit rating agencies (CRAs).
These non-traditional products may include, for example, private ratings, confidential ratings, expected ratings, indicative ratings, prospective ratings, provisional ratings, preliminary ratings, one-time ratings, regional ratings, national ratings, point-in-time ratings, scoring, credit default swap spreads, bond indexes, portfolio assessment tools, credit assessments, rating assessments, assessments, fund ratings, data feeds, research or other tools.
view the IOSCO OTHER CRA PRODUCTS Final Report
Source: IOSCO
IMF Fiscal Monitor: Tackling Inequality, October 2017
October 11, 2017--Rising inequality and slow economic growth in many countries have focused attention on policies to support inclusive growth. While some inequality is inevitable in a market-based economic system, excessive inequality can erode social cohesion, lead to political polarization, and ultimately lower economic growth.
This Fiscal Monitor discusses how fiscal policies can help achieve redistributive objectives. It focuses on three salient policy debates: tax rates at the top of the income distribution, the introduction of a universal basic income, and the role of public spending on education and health.
Source: IMF
OECD-Unequal access and usage could hold back potential of digital economy
October 11, 2017--Digital technologies continue to make impressive advances. Internet infrastructure is improving and the usage of digital tools is growing. The social impacts of digital innovation have also become more pronounced in diverse fields.
However, progress is uneven across countries, businesses, and within societies. Broadening access to digital opportunities and helping those lagging behind to catch up would increase the benefits of the digital transformation and help ensure they are widely shared across economies and people, according to a new OECD report.
Source: OECD
¡Qué Barbaridad¡ Should we worry about Catalonia?
October 10, 2017--The political risks in one of Europe's major economies have lifted in recent weeks, with fears that the Spanish region of Catalonia might elect to become independent.
In turn, this could lead to a re-run of wider European break-up fears, with consequent risk for the Euro currency and European equity markets. Due to the likely huge economic costs the region would face, however, this note suggests it is very unlikely Catalonia would ever formally vote to secede from Spain.
Source: betashares.com.au
China New Economy ETF
October 10, 2017--Hong Kong
Former BlackRock execs list China new economy fund
Premia Partners, a Hong Kong ETF provider founded by former BlackRock executives, is listing a new fund that tracks China's "new economy", the Premia CSI Caixin China New Economy ETF (3173)...
USA
KraneShares lists niche-within-a-niche ETF
China ETF specialist KraneShares is listing a new fund on BATS which tracks EM-headquartered companies that make consumer technologies, the KraneShares Emerging Markets Consumer Technologies Index ETF (KEMQ)...
UK
VanEck lists natural resources tracker
VanEck is listing a sector ETF in London that targets the natural resources industry, the VanEck Natural Resources UCITS ETF. The fund will be available in both US dollars and pound sterling (HAP, HAGB).
UK and France
Lyxor brings more floating rate notes
French issuer Lyxor is listing a new fund in Paris and London that tracks floating rate notes, the Lyxor $ Floating Rate Note UCITS ETF (SWIH)...
Source: ULTUMUS-Financial Data Management
'Passive' Investing Frenzy Pushes Vanguard to $4.7 Trillion in Assets
October 10, 2017--Assets topped $4 trillion for the first time earlier this year and have continued their upward climb since.
Investors plowed nearly $300 billion into Vanguard Group funds in the first nine months of this year, nearly matching flows into the firm for all of 2016 in the latest affirmation of the primacy of low-cost "passive" investing.
Source: Wall Street Journal
EDHEC calls on regulators to take measures against "fake" listed infrastructure
October 10, 2017--In open letters to the chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, EDHEC has called on regulators to take measures against the risks of investment in so-called 'listed infrastructure'.
This call follows the publication by EDHEC of a position paper entitled "The rise of "fake infra": The unregulated growth of listed infrastructure and the dangers it poses to the future of infrastructure investing." The position paper documents the rise of the so-called listed infrastructure asset class, which EDHEC considers to be an ill-defined series of financial products. Initially targeting retail investors, and increasingly institutional investors, listed infrastructure now represents close to a third of the infrastructure investment sector.
Source: EDHEC-Risk Institute
STOXX monthly index news: Elections in Germany have a positive effect
October 10, 2017--The markets withstood political and natural storms in the past month, STOXX Ltd., the operator of Deutsche Boerse Group's index business, and a global provider of innovative and tradable index concepts, announced earlier today in its Monthly Index News report.
Shortly before the election in Germany, the local stock market stagnated, but gained strongly in the week after the election, making it the top performer on country level in September. In the US, the oil & gas sector recovered strongly after hurricane Harvey hit the US.
Source: leaprate.com