ETF Securities Investment Insights January 2017-The growing case for commodities
January 31, 2017--Summary
Amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and stretched
valuations in traditional assets, commodities may serve as a
key alternative investment and source of diversification.
Rising inflationary pressures may provide tailwind for commodities which historically closely track inflation.
Recovery in global growth may also spur commodity demand driven by emerging markets and infrastructure spending.
Source: etfsecurities.com
Fixed income trading primed for evolutionary leap
January 30, 2017--This year will see data science and analytics fuel 'smart trading', says Tradeweb chief.
Source: FT.com
Improving Governance Is Key to Ensuring Equitable Growth in Developing Countries
January 30, 2017--A new World Bank policy report urges developing countries and international development agencies to rethink their approach to governance, as a key to overcoming challenges related to security, growth, and equity.
The 2017 World Development Report: Governance and the Law explores how unequal distribution of power in a society interferes with policies' effectiveness. Power asymmetries help explain, for example, why model anti-corruption laws and agencies often fail to curb corruption, why decentralization does not always improve municipal services; or why well-crafted fiscal policies may not reduce volatility and generate long-term savings.
view the 2017 World Development Report: Governance and the Law
Source: World Bank
Renminbi internationalisation remains elusive
January 30, 2017--Offshore rate against the dollar has been stronger than its onshore counterpart
Source: FT.com
IMF Working paper-Oil Prices and the Global Economy
January 27, 2017--This paper presents a simple macroeconomic model of the oil market. The model incorporates features of oil supply such as depletion, endogenous oil exploration and extraction, as well as features of oil demand such as the secular increase in demand from emerging-market economies, usage efficiency, and endogenous demand responses.
The model provides, inter alia, a useful analytical framework to explore the effects of: a change in world GDP growth; a change in the efficiency of oil usage; and a change in the supply of oil. Notwithstanding that shale oil production today is more responsive to prices than conventional oil, our analysis suggests that an era of prolonged low oil prices is likely to be followed by a period where oil prices overshoot their long-term upward trend.
Source: IMF
Frequently asked questions on market risk capital requirements published by the Basel Committee
January 26, 2017--The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today published responses to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the standard Minimum capital requirements for market risk.
The questions and answers include clarifications both to the standardised approach and the internal models approach.
view the Minimum capital requirements for market risk
Source: BIS
BlackRock and Vanguard crush smaller ETF rivals
January 26, 2017--Record-breaking year for exchange traded funds benefited fund giants that slashed fees.
Champagne corks should be popping in celebration across the exchange traded fund industry after a third successive year of record-breaking growth.
Source: FT.com
JPMorgan wins $1tn custody mandate from BlackRock
January 25, 2017--Wall Street group to overtake State Street as world's No 2 custodian bank
Source: FT.com
Industrial Commodities Prices to Surge in 2017: World Bank
January 24, 2017-The World Bank is forecasting strong gains for industrial commodities such as energy and metals in 2017, due to tightening supply and strengthening demand.
In its January 2017 Commodity Markets Outlook, the World Bank is holding steady its crude oil price forecast for the year at $55 per barrel, a 29 percent jump from 2016. The energy price forecast assumes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers will partially comply with an agreement to limit production after a long period of unrestrained output.
Source: World Bank
The Economist-Democracy Index 2016
January 23, 2017--According to the 2016 Democracy Index almost one-half of the world's countries can be considered to be democracies of some sort, but the number of "full democracies" has declined from 20 in 2015 to 19 in 2016
The US has been downgraded from a "full democracy" to a "flawed democracy" because of a further erosion of trust in government and elected officials there.
Source: www.eiu.com