Global ETF News Older than One Year
WisdomTree-Precious metal flows set to rebound as Fed rate hike fears fade
September 21, 2016--We summarise how short and leveraged (S&L) ETPs have performed for August across a range of asset classes:
Investor appetite for safe haven metals and US Treasuries eased on the back of rising Fed rate hike expectations, as improving risk sentiment boosted European equities.
Allocations into unleveraged Gold ETCs slowed globally with net inflows of $859mn in August representing the lowest level since April.
Leveraged short ETPs tracking precious metals were standout performers in the commodities space: 3x leveraged short silver ETPs offered returns of up to 28% as silver
prices crashed by 9%.
However, precious metals flows could be set for a September reversal with the case for looming Fed tightening fading.
Source: WisdomTree
Institutional Investors Embrace Bond ETFs
September 21, 2016--New Greenwich Report Finds Liquidity Shortages, Additional Challenges Fueling ETF Growth in Institutional Portfolios
The difficult trading environment in bond markets is fueling the use of bond ETFs in institutional portfolios.
The 104 institutional investors participating in the Greenwich Associates 2016 U.S. Bond ETF Study are experiencing longer execution times, increased execution costs and more difficulty sourcing bond securities and completing trades-especially large ones. As they adjust their investment processes and portfolios to deal with these challenges, institutions are looking beyond individual bonds to alternative vehicles that can provide required bond exposures.
Source: Greenwich Associates
OECD warns weak trade and financial distortions damage global growth prospects
September 21, 2016--Weak trade growth and financial distortions are exacerbating slow global economic growth, according to the OECD's latest Interim Economic Outlook.
The global economy is projected to grow at a slower pace this year than in 2015, with only a modest uptick expected in 2017. The Outlook warns that a low-growth trap has taken root, as poor growth expectations further depress trade, investment, productivity and wages.
view the OECD Interim Economic Outlook (September 2016)
Source: OECD
Interoceptive Ability Predicts Survival on a London Trading Floor
September 19, 2016--Interoception is the sensing of physiological signals originating inside the body, such as hunger, pain and heart rate. People with greater sensitivity to interoceptive signals, as measured by, for example, tests of heart beat detection, perform better in laboratory studies of risky decision-making.
However, there has been little field work to determine if interoceptive sensitivity contributes to success in real-world, high-stakes risk taking. Here, we report on a study in which we quantified heartbeat detection skills in a group of financial traders working on a London trading floor. We found that traders are better able to perceive their own heartbeats than matched controls from the non-trading population. Moreover, the interoceptive ability of traders predicted their relative profitability, and strikingly, how long they survived in the financial markets. Our results suggest that signals from the body-the gut feelings of financial lore-contribute to success in the markets.
Source: nature.com
WEF-Disruptive innovation in financial services: A blueprint for digital
September 19, 2016--Disruptive innovation in financial services: A blueprint for digital identity-a report from the World Economic Forum. (originally published August 12, 2016)
The World Economic Forum's digital identity report lays out, in detail, the argument for financial institutions to drive the development of digital identity solutions, discusses the landscape of identity solutions, provides recommendations on the construction of identity systems, and discusses the suite of benefits that these systems would bring to stakeholders.
view the Disruptive innovation in financial services: A blueprint for digital identity
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
WEF-The future of financial infrastructure: An ambitious look at how blockchain can reshape financial services
September 19, 2016--On August 12, 2016 the World Economic Forum published The future of financial infrastructure: An ambitious look at how blockchain can reshape financial services report.
The transformation of the financial services industry is top-of-mind for everyone in the field and blockchain might be the hottest topic in the rapidly changing world of Fintech. But how can this technology really help financial firms? This report from World Economic Forum takes a pragmatic approach to answering this question.
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
ETF Securities Weekly Flows Analysis-GBP short positions are back to pre-referendum announcement levels
September 19, 2016--The futures market has highlighted an increasing probability of rate hike this year, weighing on commodity prices. Consequently, gold saw small outflows last week representing only 1% of inflows this year
AuM in GBP short ETPs has now fallen back to levels not seen pre the EU referendum announcement
Industrial metals saw continued outflows last week totalling US$15m
The futures market has highlighted an increasing probability of rate hike this year. While the markets are pricing in a lower probability of a rate increase this week, the implied probability of a rate move in December has risen.
Source: ETF Securities
Infographic-How Oil is Formed
September 19, 2016--Does the oil we use today originate from the remains of dead dinosaurs?
No, but the actual answer is just as interesting.
The generally accepted theory is that today's oil reserves come from organic materials that existed millions of years before dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Source: visualcapitalist.com
World Bank-By 2050, drug-resistant infections could cause global economic damage on par with 2008 financial crisis
September 19, 2016--New research from World Bank shows that antimicrobial resistance would increase poverty and affect poorest countries the most
Drug-resistant infections have the potential to cause a level of economic damage similar to-and likely worse than-that caused by the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new report by the World Bank Group entitled "Drug Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future."
The research shows that a high-case scenario of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-where antibiotics and other antimicrobial dugs no longer treat infections the way they are supposed to-could cause low-income countries to lose more than 5% of their GDP and push up to 28 million people, mostly in developing countries, into poverty by 2050.
view the "Drug Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future" report
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
Morningstar-A Global Guide to Strategic-Beta Exchange-Traded Products
September 18, 2016--Executive Summary
"Smart beta' is an unfortunate name, one that has positive connotations that may not always
be warranted.
What Morningstar deems "strategic beta" is a broad and rapidly growing category of benchmarks and the investment products that track it
As of June 30, 2014, there were 673 strategic-beta exchange-traded products, or ETPs, with collective assets under management of approximately $396 billion worldwide.1 Strategic-beta ETPs are making inroads against their peers that are benchmarked to more-traditional indexes. While their market share has been increasing in every region we have examined, they have made greater inroads in large, more mature markets than they have in smaller, less developed ones.
For example, strategic-beta ETPs accounted for 19% of U.S. ETP assets, but just 1.5% of ETP assets in the Asia-Pacific region.
view the Morningstar-A Global Guide to Strategic-Beta Exchange-Traded Products
Source: Morningstar
