Pimco becomes world's best selling active manager
July 31, 2017--Pimco became the best-selling active asset manager in the first half of this year, less than three years after the departure of star fund manager Bill Gross saw its total assets fall by a third.
But in a change of fortunes the bond specialist attracted almost $50bn to its funds in the first six months this year, the Financial Times reports.
Source: fundstrategy.co.uk
IMF-The Financing of Ideas and the Great Deviation
July 31, 2017--Summary:
Why did the Great Recession lead to such a slow recovery? A model was built where heterogeneous firms invest in physical and intangible capital, and can default on their debt. In case of default, intangible assets are harder to seize by creditors. Hence, intangible capital faces higher financing costs.
This differential is exacerbated in a financial crisis, when default is more likely and aggregate risk bears a higher premium. The resulting fall in intangible investment amplifies the crisis, and gradual intangible spillovers to other firms contribute to its persistence. Using panel data on Spanish manufacturing firms, I estimate the model matching firm-level moments regarding intangibles and financing. The model captures the extent and components of the Great Recession in Spanish manufacturing, whereas a standard model without endogenous intangible investment would miss more than half of the GDP fall. A policy of transfers conditional on firm age could speed up the recovery, as young firms tend to be more financially constrained, particularly regarding intangible investment. Conditioning transfers on firm size or subsidizing credit (as in current E.U. policy) appears to be less effective.
Source: IMF
Long Finance-Responsibility Without Power? The Governance Of Mutual Distributed Ledgers
July 31, 2017--Mutual Distributed Ledger (MDL, aka blockchain) technology is in an emergent phase. New applications are under development; new uses are being researched; new consortia are being formed to explore MDL applications.
Considering appropriate governance structures has had a lower priority so far, but trust in the increasingly popular systems will depend on their incorporating good governance principles. It was the aim of this study to identify those principles, in order to provide a roadmap for developers and users alike.
Source: Long Finance
ETF Securities Weekly Flows Analysis-Crude rally leads investors to take profit
July 31, 2017--The 6% rise in
crude oil over the last week has led to investors taking profits with outflows of US$53m
Selling long positions and buying short positions in EUR
against the USD has been a continued trend.
Precious metals saw minor inflows of US$19m after a run of outflows
The 6% rise in crude oil over the last week has led to investors taking profits with outflows of US$53m. This year there have been substantial inflows of US$350m into crude oil ETPs as investors trade the upper and lower end of the established US$40-55 trading range. Oil has been volatile, proving very sensitive to news on inventories in the US.
Source: etfsecurities.com
ULTUMUS-Global ETF Monitor
July 31, 2017--Asia
South Korean issuer NH Investment & Securities will be listing a new American IT tracker in South Korea (550041). At present, there is little English language material available on 550041. What is available suggests it will track American tech giants through a Singaporean index, the SGX U.S. Technology Enterprises Index. 550041 will charge 1.20%...
Taishin Securities, the ETF arm of the Taiwanese banking major Taishin International Bank, will be listing three new ETFs in Taipai in August...
Europe
iShares is listing a Euro denominated version of its US floating rate bond ETF in London (FLOE). FLOE will track investment-grade floating rate bonds issued by US, Canadian and Australian businesses...
Source: ULTUMUS-Financial Data Management
ETFGI reports assets invested in Active ETFs/ETPs listed globally have increased 30.5 percent in the first half of 2017
July 31, 2017--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that assets invested in active ETFs/ETPs listed globally have increased by 30.5% in the first half of 2017, according to ETFGI's June 2017 global active ETF and ETP industry insights report.
YTD through end of June 2017, active ETF/ETP assets have increased by 30.5% from US$43.46 Bn to reach a new record of US$56.74 Bn.
Source: ETFGI
ETFGI reports assets invested in Smart Beta equity ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new record of 592 billion US dollars at the end of the first half of 2017
July 31, 2017--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that assets invested in Smart Beta equity ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new record of US$592 billion at the end of the first half of 2017, according to ETFGI's June 2017 global smart beta equity ETF and ETP industry insights report.
Year to date through end of June 2017, smart beta equity ETF/ETP assets have increased by 14.9% from US$515 Bn to US$592 Bn, with a 5-year CAGR of 31.9%.
Source: ETFGI
JPMorgan develops robot to execute trades Trial shows AI is more efficient than traditional methods of buying and selling
July 31, 2017--JPMorgan will soon be using a first-of-its-kind robot to execute trades across its global equities algorithms business, after a European trial of the bank's new artificial intelligence (AI) programme showed it was much more efficient than traditional methods of buying and selling.
Source: FT.com
The Robotics and Automation Investment Case-ROBO Industry report
July 30, 2017--Robotics & Automation is enabling a technological revolution that will fundamentally change how we work and live. We are moving from an era of industrial automation to the use of advanced robotics across the global economy.
ROBO Global, with unique industry insight, created and maintains the first global index tracking this megatrend. The future is now, learn how ROBO Global defines the universe of robotics and automation for investors.
Source: ROBO Global (R)
DECPG Global Weekly -July 28, 2017
July 28, 2017--TAKING STOCK
U.S. GDP growth picked up in Q2; Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged
Euro Area composite PMI declined to a six-month low in July
Japan consumer price inflation held steady in June; manufacturing PMI softened to an 8-month low in July
Crude oil price ticked higher
Ghana cut interest rates, while Nigeria kept rates on hold.
Source: World Bank