PWC-Live digital or die-The digital challenges that ETF sponsors and service providers must confront
September 12, 2017--Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) continue to experience significant growth and innovation. We expect that continued
advances in digital technologies will significantly impact ETF
sponsors, service providers and other participants.
We foresee technological change driving significant impacts upon ETF operations, distribution and products. These changes will also impact a firm's profit margins, regulatory risks, cyber security, and customer interactions. There is no question that successful firms will need to evolve rapidly to keep ahead of their competition.
This paper leverages the results of our ETF global survey and includes our insights on how the ETF industry will be impacted by FinTech over the next few years.
Source: PWC
ETF Securities-ETF Outlook September 2017
September 12, 2017--Bond balloon, not bubble
Artificially low market volatility
Across asset classes, volatility has moderated, and the underlying macro landscape has improved on a global basis, prompting greater investor optimism.
Political uncertainty has also moderated, with two key exceptions: the Trump administration and the Brexit negotiations. Risk and the implied complacency of investors that low volatility presumes are key issues in financial markets, the current 'risk-on' environment where equity markets are reaching record highs looks increasingly untenable.
Source: etfsecurities.com
Infographic-Market Complexity Could Trigger the Next Crash
September 12, 2017--Complex systems are all around us.
By one definition, a complex system is any system that features a large number of interacting components (agents, processes, etc.) whose aggregate activity is nonlinear (not derivable from the summations of the activity of individual components) and typically exhibits hierarchical self-organization under selective pressures.
Source: visualcapitalist.com
Basel III monitoring results published by the Basel Committee
September 12, 2017--All banks meet Basel III minimum and target CET1 capital requirements
All G-SIBs meet both fully phased-in liquidity requirements
The Basel Committee today published the results of its latest Basel III monitoring exercise based on data as of 31 December 2016. The Committee established a rigorous reporting process to regularly review the implications of the Basel III standards for banks, and it has published the results of previous exercises since 2012. For the first time, the report provides not only global averages but also a regional breakdown for many key metrics.
view the Basel III Monitoring Report
Source: BIS
End of the Oil Age: Not Whether But When
September 12, 2017-A transportation revolution is underway that could completely transform the oil market in the coming decades.
When oil prices suddenly halved from over $100 a barrel in 2014, our IMF study concluded that supply-side factors such as the emergence of shale and new technologies would be a key force keeping oil prices "lower for longer." More recent studies suggest that other new technologies, such as the spread of electric cars and solar electricity generation, could even more profoundly affect the oil market and the long-term demand for oil.
Source: IMF
Global Financial Centres Index 22-Despite Brexit Uncertainty London Remains On Top
September 11, 2017--Today Z/Yen publishes the twenty-second Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 22). Z/Yen are delighted to be working in collaboration with the China Development Institute (CDI). The GFCI rates 92 financial centres.
The main headlines are shown below.
There is an overall drop in confidence amongst the leading centres. Of the top 25 centres, 23 fell in the ratings and only two rose. At the lower end of the table, 20 of the 25 lowest rated centres actually rose in the GFCI ratings. There is little change in the top five positions. London and New York remain in first and second places. Interestingly, despite the ongoing Brexit negotiations, London only fell two points, the smallest decline in the top ten centres. Hong Kong has moved just ahead of Singapore into third-only two points ahead on a scale of 1,000. Tokyo remains in fifth.
view the The Global Financial Centres Index 22-September 2017
Source: Long Finance
SA retains regional stock crown as Saudis battle to overtake
September 11, 2017--Oil has denied Saudi Arabia the opportunity to overtake SA as the biggest stock market in the Middle East and Africa, even as political turmoil and a faltering economy hold back share prices in Johannesburg.
Source: FIN24
BlackRock Global ETP Landscape Monthly Snapshot-August 2017
September 11, 2017--Global ETP flows climb to a new annual record
Global ETPs gathered $47.4bn, driving year-to-date flows to a new annual record, fueled by strength in developed markets (DM) equity exposures and bolstered by fixed income
U.S. equities drew in $9.5bn, concentrated in large caps, amid strong corporate earnings and economic growth
Broad DM equities and Japanese equi
ties collected $7.6bn and $8.0bn,
respectively, against a backdr
op of positive
economic data
Fixed income brought in another $12.2bn led by investment grade corporates, which captured $4.2bn, propelling year-to-date flows to $39.6bn.
Source: BlackRock
Japan gets its first ESG ETFs
September 11, 2017-Japan
Virtue signaling from Daiwa Asset
Daiwa Asset, one of Japan's largest asset managers, has broken new ground in Japan, launching the country's three first ESG funds as well as a high dividend fund. The new listings are:
Daiwa ETF TOPIX High Dividend Yield 40 Index (1651)
Daiwa ETF MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index WIN (1652)...
iShares lists its first no-Asia ETF in Tokyo
iShares has expanded its Japanese ETF offering, listing several new products that offer Japanese investors the chance to diversify overseas. The products and the indexes they track should be familiar to western investors. They are:
iShares S&P 500 ETF (1655)
iShares Core 7-10 Year US Treasury Bond ETF (1656)...
Australia
Platinum rebrands its active funds as ETFs
In Australia, asset manager Platinum Asset Management has listed two new funds on the ASX as a way of rebranding its existing actively managed funds. The Platinum International Fund ETF (PIXX) and the Platinum Asia Fund ETF (PAXX) will both simply be ETF versions of its actively managed Asia and International fund....
Switzerland
UBS lists socially responsible ETF that invests in itself
Swiss powerhouse UBS has listed a socially responsible ETF in Switzerland with the ticker CHSRI (a portmanteau of CH for Switzerland and SRI for socially responsible investing)....
London
Deutsche Bank cross-lists some of its most successful ETFs
Deutsche Bank has backed up last week's boat load of listings on the LSX with another several cross listings this week. They are:
db x-trackers II EUR Corporate Bond UCITS ETF DR (XBLC)
db x-trackers II-EUR High Yield Corporate Bond UCITS ETF DR (XHYG)
Source: ULTUMUS-Financial Data Management
World Bank studies blockchain for cross-border payments, streamlined structured finance
September 11, 2017--The World Bank is exploring ways in which blockchain can be adopted for purposes such as cross-border payments and streamlining its multibillion-dollar structured finance business, according to Arunma Oteh, the multilateral lender's vice president and treasurer.
"Blockchain gives an opportunity to have a trusted source that anybody can acc...
Source: mlexfs-core.com