Global ETF News Older than One Year
Teva Crumbles as Check Point & Amdocs Emerge as Israel's New Equity Leaders, and the Israeli Export Sector Surges
September 7, 2017--Israeli Global Equities, as measured by the BIGI(R) index and tracked by the VanEck Vectors Israel ETF (NYSE: ISRA), declined 6.32% in August cutting its YTD performance in half to a 7.41% return.
Israeli equities are now underperforming nearly every major global equity benchmark tracked by BlueStar. BIG(R) is outperforming other broad-based Israeli equity benchmarks in 2017 as the MSCI Israel index is down more than 6% for the year and the TA-125 is up a bit more than 6%.
Source: Blue Star Indexes
IMF Working Papers-Banking on Women Leaders: A Case for More?
September 7, 2017--Summary:
Using a new dataset, we measure the large gap between the representation of men and women in leadership positions in banks and bank supervision agencies worldwide. Women occupied less than 2 percent of bank CEOs positions, and less than 20 percent of the board seats in more than 80 percent of the observations across banks over time.
Contrary to common perceptions, many low-and middle-income countries have a higher share of women in bank boards and banking supervision agency boards compared to advanced economies. Econometric analysis suggests that, controlling for relevant bank and country-specific factors, the presence of women as well as a higher share of women on bank boards is associated with greater bank stability, as represented by higher z-scores and lower nonperforming loan ratios. We also examine the share of women on boards of banking supervision agencies by compiling a new dataset. We find that it is associated with greater bank stability. Further research is needed to identify specific mechanisms through which these stability benefits are achieved, and to understand the conditions that have facilitated entry of women into leadership roles in banks and supervision agencies.
view the IMF Working Paper-Banking on Women Leaders: A Case for More?
Source: IMF
Gold could soon hit $1,400, but downside risks remain, strategists warn
September 7, 2017--Gold is currently trading around $1,340 per ounce. It is up 2.45 percent over the past seven days.
Gold could soon hit $1,400, but downside risks remain, strategists warn
The current period of elevated uncertainty, both in terms of U.S. domestic policy and in foreign diplomacy, is supporting gold prices. Dollar weakness is also supportive.
Yet downside risks remain. If the dollar rebounds, then gold prices would fall.
Source: CNBC.com
Fancy investing in a theme? There's an ETF for that
September 7, 2017--With 447 funds worth nearly $78bn, thematic investing is more popular than ever.
Drones, millennials and the Bible are strange bedfellows. But they have all provided inspiration for fund managers who favour thematic investing, an approach where they select stocks with links to a particular subject rather than a single sector.
Source: FT.com
Crypto Performance 20x Higher Than Traditional Asset Classes
September 7, 2017--Bitcoin and other digital currencies outperformed traditional assets by 20 times in the second quarter, according to a report released Wednesday by CoinDesk.
In the second quarter, Bitcoin returned 150.6% year over year, the report found, and returns for all digital assets were 445%. Global equities returned nearly 15%, followed by U.S. equities at 9.2%, gold at 7.75% and global real estate at 3.2%.
Source: thinkadvisor.com
World Gold Council-Gold-backed ETFs increase by 31.4t in August to 2,295t in global holdings
September 6, 2017--Regional fund flows
North American ETFs drove global inflows in August as investors added 27.8 tonnes ($1.3bn, 2.6% AUM)
Flows in Europe were mixed with a net increase of 6.4t ($321mn, 0.78% AUM)
Asia funds lost 2t ($80mn, 3.0% AUM), with many of the Chinese gold-backed funds losing assets
Source: World Gold Council (WGC)
BetaShares-Global Market Outlook: Sabre rattling stalls stocks
September 6, 2017--After consistently solid monthly gains since late 2016, global stocks seem due for a period of consolidation at least, if not a corrective pull back.
While the specific catalyst for this pull back remains unclear, likely candidates include concerns over North Korea, government shutdown/debt ceiling concerns in Washington, or a more abrupt lift in bond yields.
Source: BetaShares
ULTUMUS-One Belt, One Road, One ETF
August 6, 2017--USA
One Belt, One Road is a Chinese government initiative aiming to build a new silk road through Central Asia and better connect China with its trading partners...
And there's something in it for ETF issuers too. KraneShares has listed a fund that (OBOR) aims to get exposure to One Belt, One Road through the MSCI Global China Infrastructure Exposure Index....
iShares is listing two plain vanilla corporate bond tracker, which track US dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with long maturities...
Asia
Australia
Continuing in the Asian infrastructure theme, ETF Securities is listing a fund in Australia that will track global infrastructure. The index interprets infrastructure broadly....
ETF Securities will also be launching an AI tracker in Australia, which tracks the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index.
Source: ULTUMUS-Financial Data Management
STOXX Research: Comments By Jan-Carl Plagge, Head Of Applied Research, STOXX-Oil & Gas Sector Struggled Over Hurricane Harvey
September 6, 2017--With ongoing tensions in North Korea, the recent terrorist attacks in Spain, and severe damage caused by hurricane Harvey in the US, August was a turbulent month with overall volatile global markets.
Moreover, a strong euro led European shares to reach its lowest in the past half a year. As a reaction to occurrences such as these, investors increasingly bought into safe haven assets such as gold. This in combination with recovering commodity prices led the basic resources sector to flourish in August.
Source: mondovisione.com
The World Federation of Exchanges launches joint report into role of exchanges in fostering economic development with the United Nations Conference On Trade And Development
September 6, 2017--The World Federation of Exchanges ("The WFE"), which represents more than 200 market infrastructure providers including exchanges and CCPs, today published a report examining the role of stock exchanges in promoting economic growth and sustainable development, with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ("UNCTAD").
The report-entitled The Role of Stock Exchanges in Fostering Economic Growth and Sustainable Development-will form the opening sessions of the 57th WFE Annual Meeting taking place in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday 7 & Friday 8 September 2017. The report explains how stock exchanges operate, and why they matter; longer-term developmental challenges; and finally, how exchanges might be able to address some of those challenges.
view the The Role of Stock Exchanges in Fostering Economic Growth and Sustainable Development report
Source: WFE (The World Federation of Exchanges)
