Climate change is hurting insurers, report says
May 17, 2022--Climate change is hurting the insurance industry and only 8% of insurers are preparing adequately for its impact, consultants Capgemini and financial industry body Efma said in a report on Tuesday.
Insured losses from natural catastrophes have increased 250% in the last 30 years, with perils such as wildfires and storms, seen as particularly impacted by climate change, causing an even faster rise in insured losses, the report said.
Insurers' main catastrophe risk in the past was typically from hurricanes in U.S. states such as Florida and Texas, Seth Rachlin, global insurance industry leader at Capgemini, told Reuters.
Source: reuters.com
IMF Working Paper-Bilateral Trade Imbalances
May 13, 2022-Summary:
If sectoral trade flows obey structural gravity, countries' bilateral trade imbalances are the result of macro trade imbalances, "triangular trade", or pairwise asymmetric trade barriers. Using data for 40 major economies and the Rest of the World, we show that large and pervasive asymmetries in trade barriers are required to account for most of the observed variation in bilateral imbalances.
A dynamic quantitative trade model suggests that eliminating these asymmetries would significantly reduce bilateral (but not macro) imbalances and have sizeable impacts on welfare. We provide evidence that the asymmetries we measure are in part related to the policy environment: trade inside the European Single Market appears to be subject to more bilaterally symmetric frictions. Extending the same symmetry to all parts of the global economy would give a large boost to the real incomes of several non-E.U. countries.
Source: IMF.org
Amid Multiple Crises, Major Transformation of Commodity Markets Is Underway
May 12, 2022--Demand growth to decline over next three decades; energy transition will be challenging
Global commodity markets are being reshaped in lasting ways as a result of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine,and the impacts of climate change-a transformation that is likely to have profound implications for developing economies over the coming decades, a new World Bank study has found.
The study, Commodity Markets: Evolution, Challenges, and Policies, offers the first comprehensive analysis-encompassing all major commodities-of how these markets evolved over the past 100 years and the directions they are likely to take over the next 30. It predicts that growth in overall global demand for commodities is likely to decelerate as population growth slows and developing economies mature, although demand for some commodities is likely to rise.
Source: worldbank.org
ETF assets will surpass $20tn by 2026, PwC predicts
May 11, 2022--The accountancy firm canvassed executives representing more than 80% of global ETF assets
Assets managed by exchange traded funds globally could grow to more than $20tn by 2026, according to a PwC report, which revealed executives expect the ETF market's "phenomenal momentum" of the past five years to continue.
In its new report, entitled ETFs 2026: The next big leap, the accountancy giant predicts that assets will grow to more than $20tn, representing a 17 per cent compound annual growth rate is achievable.
Source: ft.com
ETFGI reports the global ETFs industry gathered US$31.42 billion in net inflows in April 2022
May 11, 2022-ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETFs/ETPs ecosystem, reported today that the global ETFs industry gathered US$31.42 billion in net inflows in April, bringing year-to-date net inflows to US$337.11 billion.
During April 2022, assets invested in the global ETFs industry decreased by 7.4%, going from US$10.09 trillion at the end of March to US$9.34 trillion, according to ETFGI's April 2022 global ETFs and ETPs industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service.
Highlights
Assets of $9.34 Tn invested inglobal ETFs industry at the end of April.
Assets decreased 9.0% YTD in 2022, going from $10.27 Tn at end of 2021 to $9.34 Tn.
Global ETFs industry gathered $31.42 Bn in net inflows in April
YTD net inflows of $337.11 Bn are the second highest on record, after YTD net inflows in 2021 of
$464.60 Bn.
$1.16 Tn in net inflows gathered in the past 12 months.
35th month of consecutive net inflows.
Equity ETFs and ETPs listed globally saw $1.75 Bn net outflows in April 2022.
Source: ETFGI
WEF-Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2022
May 11, 2022--This special edition report on global energy transition builds on the trends from the Energy Transition Index to provide perspective on the current challenges and recommendations on how to navigate the transition through a turbulent macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. A series of compounded shocks pose short-term risks to energy affordability, sustainability, and energy security.
However, the window to prevent the worst consequences of climate change is closing fast, and the transition must be supercharged by ramping up clean energy investments, raising policy ambitions, and transforming consumer and industrial energy consumption. Strengthening energy security is paramount, dual diversification - in import partners in the short-term, and in fuel mix in the long-term-can improve resilience.
Source: World Economic Forum (WEF)
A 'stable' coin lost its peg over the weekend and pledged $1.5 billion in Bitcoin trying to stabilize. Here's how the algorithmic stablecoin was supposed to work-and didn't
May 10, 2022--TerraUSD (UST) was supposed to be the standard-bearer of algorithmic stablecoins, but the turmoil gripping markets is exposing flaws that critics have long charged it with.
After losing its peg over the weekend, the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), an association meant to support the cryptocurrency, said it would issue $1.5 billion in loans denominated in Bitcoin and UST to stabilize it.
But after days of triage by LFG, the UST stablecoin still hasn't regained its peg. In other words, one UST is still worth less than $1. On Monday, it fell as low as 66 cents before recovering to about 90 cents at the time of publication. view more
Source: fortune.com
ETF investing plummets to lowest level since Covid crisis hit
May 9, 2022--Net inflows slide to $27bn in April from $117bn a month earlier
Purchases of exchange traded funds fell in April to their lowest level since the depths of the Covid crisis as the war in Ukraine and spiralling global inflation sapped demand.
Net inflows to ETFs and exchange traded products globally slipped to $27.4bn in April, according to data from BlackRock, down from $117.4bn in March and the lowest figure since March 2020.
Source: ft.com
BIS-Gaining momentum-Results of the 2021 BIS survey on central bank digital currencies
May 6, 2022--Most central banks are exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and more than a quarter of them are now developing or running concrete pilots. This BIS paper updates earlier surveys that asked central banks about their engagement in this area. The latest responses from 81 central banks show that the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of cryptocurrencies have accelerated the work on CBDCs.
In addition, this paper shows that more than two thirds of central banks are likely to issue a retail CBDC in the short or medium term. Many are exploring a CBDC ecosystem that involves private sector collaboration and interoperability with existing payment systems.
Source: BIS
IMF Working Paper-Digital Money and Central Bank Operations
May 6, 2022--Summary:
The rise of new and proposed monetary vehicles, including CBDC, stablecoins, payment service providers etc., are unprecedented. An important question for central banks is the extent to which these innovations upend the role of and implementation of monetary policy. The paper focuses on the interest rate channel and if digital money (especially CBDC) will change monetary policy and central bank operations.
We argue that new policy instruments make sense only to the extent that there is limited substitutability between the various payment sectors. We analyze trends in currency-in-circulation, and how it may impact central bank's seigniorage, monetary base, and transactional velocity of digital money if money demand declines. Liquidity outside the monetary base will also be important to understand.
Source: imf.org
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