Global ETF News Older than One Year
Active asset managers knocked by shift to passive strategies
April 11, 2016--The deteriorating ability of money managers to beat their indices has led to investors accelerating a shift towards passive strategies such as exchange traded funds, adding to the pressure on actively managed funds to justify their fees.
Equity funds that are actively managed have suffered net outflows of $34.9bn globally this year but stock market ETFs have taken in another $7.6bn, according to research company EPFR, despite the turbulent performance of markets.
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Source: FT.com
AdvisorShares Weekly Market Update-This Week in Active ETFs: Heads (Of State) Are Gonna Roll?
April 11, 2016--Macro
Last Monday we mentioned the so called Panama Papers in passing with a stay tuned point of view and sure enough the story has and continues to unfold. The biggest news for now appears
to be the resignation of Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur
David Gunnlaugsson after it was discovered/alleged that he
may have had some shady dealings. For his part however, Gunnlaugsson claimed he was just stepping aside for now, and
not because of the Panama Papers.
A bigger domino would be if David Cameron's inclusion in the scandal via an investment he inherited from his father were to lead to his ouster.
It was kind of a quiet week on the economic front and so a quiet week for domestic equities which drifted lower going into the start of the Q1 earnings season in which profits are estimated to decline 7.9%
Source: AdvisorShares
WisdomTree grapples with $5bn outflows
April 10, 2016--The world's most shorted asset manager is struggling to stem outflows from its exchange-traded funds.
Source: Financial News
DECPG Global Weekly-April 8, 2016
April 8, 2016--TAKING STOCK/WEEKLY INSIGHT
U.S. services sector picked up steam in March; weekly jobless claims fell more than expected
Euro Area services sector expanded in March at weakest pace since January 2015
China's reserves rose for the first time in 5 months
India cut policy rate to 5-year low
South Africa's manufacturing sector rebounded
Source: World Bank
Infographic-IMF Growth Forecasts: Missing the Mark So Far
April 8, 2016--Projections on the global economic recovery have been overestimated by most policymakers and institutions for some time now. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been no exception to this fallacy.
Whether it is simple error, wishful thinking, or a complex system that is to blame, the economists at the IMF have now missed the mark for five years in a row on their global real GDP growth forecasts. After multiple revisions downward, their most recent January 2016 report finally estimated growth for this year to be a mediocre 3.4%.
BlueStar Israel Equity Update: Relief Rally? Or Something More?
April 7, 2016--Israeli Global Equities, as measured by BIGI(R), rallied strongly in March, rising by 4.99%, significantly outperforming other
Israeli equity benchmarks.
Despite this strength, BIGI(R)underperformed major equity indexes in the U.S., Europe and in emerging markets.
Source: BlueStar
WGC-Market Update: Gold outshines the market in Q1 2016
April 7, 2016--A glittering start to 2016
The gold price staged a spectacular rally in the first quarter of this year, rising by 17% in US dollar terms. This was its best performance in almost three decades, significantly outperforming other major stock, bond and commodity indices.
The rally, in our view, was supported by five key factors:
Ongoing concerns about economic growth and financial stability in emerging markets
A hiatus in the rise of the US dollar
The implementation of negative interest rate policies by leading global central banks
The return of pent up investment demand for gold
Price momentum (i.e. investors following gold's upward trend).
Source: WGC (World Gold Council)
Europe and Central Asia: Growth Struggles in the West, Volatility Increases in the East
April 7, 2016-- The economies of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) continue to face difficult headwinds in an increasingly complex and uncertain global economic environment, with short-term prospects differing substantially across countries, according to a new World Bank report.
Following a contraction of 1.1 percent in 2015, GDP in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (1) is expected to show practically no growth in 2016, implying a downward adjustment of more than one percentage point since late last year. Especially large are the downward adjustments for the South Caucasus (3.3 percentage points), Central Asia (1.6 percentage points) and Russia (1.3 percentage points).
view the World Bank report-The impact of China on Europe and Central Asia
Source: World Bank
Institutional Investors Increasingly Embrace Factor Investing
Desire for Improved Returns, Enhanced Risk Management and Transparent Portfolio Construction Driving Demand
April 6, 2016--Institutional investors are increasingly employing factor-based strategies across their investment process, a new study conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by BlackRock has revealed.
Respondents believe factors can help them deliver long-term outperformance, decrease overall portfolio risk, increase transparency in portfolio construction, and better understand past and future drivers of return.
Source: BlackRock
IMF-Emerging Markets Show More Resilience to Capital Flow Cycle
April 6, 2016--Net capital flows to emerging market economies slowed significantly since 2010
Slowdown associated with decline in growth prospects, but without resulting in high incidence of debt crises as in past
Greater exchange rate flexibility, foreign reserves, and lower public debt can help
Despite lower capital inflows and higher capital outflows since 2010, emerging market economies have remained resilient.
A new study, published in the IMF's April 2016 World Economic Outlook report, takes a closer look at more than 40 emerging market economies to understand the drivers of declining capital flows since 2010.
Source: IMF
