Global ETF News Older than One Year
Energy Storage-The Next Big Source of Innovation
June 3, 2015--With solar and wind energies reaching the tipping point across the world, the next big source of innovation is storing the energy that these intermittent technologies produce.
Once energy can be affordably stored in large amounts, there is no stopping the renewable energy revolution.
To give you an idea of how quickly this new industry is growing, revenue is expected to jump from $605 million a year now to over $21 billion by 2024 worldwide, according to Navigant Research.
Source: NASDAQ.com
IMF Working Paper-When Should Public Debt Be Reduced?
June 2, 2015--Summary: What considerations should guide public debt policy going forward? Should debt be reduced to achieve normative anchors (such as 60 percent of GDP), should it be increased further to finance a big public investment push, or should the existing debt be serviced forever?
We argue that, for countries with ample fiscal space (little risk of encountering a fiscal crisis), raising distortive taxes merely to bring the debt down is a treatment cure that is worse than the disease.
High public debt of course is costly, but it is a sunk cost only made worse by efforts to pay down the debt through distortionary taxation. Living with the debt is the welfare-maximizing policy. In decisions vis-á-vis the big push for public investment, golden-rule considerations remain salient, with due account taken of the additional servicing costs (and associated distortive taxation) from the resulting buildup of public debt.
view the IMF working paper-When Should Public Debt Be Reduced?
Source: IMF
BlackRock to Vanguard Tell FSB: We're Not Lehman 2.0
June 2, 2015--The world's biggest investment managers, from BlackRock Inc. to Vanguard Group Inc., have a simple message for Mark Carney, head of the Financial Stability Board: stop trying to regulate us like banks.
The firms are seeking to avoid the fate of lenders and insurers that were deemed systemically important in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Source: Bloomberg
Oil and gas CEOs call for carbon price as Exxon, Chevron outline climate strategy
June 2, 2015--The CEOs of six of the largest energy companies worldwide want national governments to put a price tag on greenhouse gas emissions.
In a letter addressed to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the authors call upon the United Nations and countries to "open a direct dialogue" on climate change and carbon pricing, "including at the UNFCCC negotiations in Paris and beyond."
Source: E&E Publishing
Larry Fink: Like Europe, Don't Fall In Love With It
June 2, 2015--Europe is currently a good bet for equity investors, but there's reason for caution over the long term, said the head of the world's largest asset manager.
Speaking at a New York investor day Tuesday, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said European equities look attractive over the next year, but that concerns about the region's long-term health remain.
Source: Wall Street Journal
IMF-An Overview of Islamic Finance
June 2, 2015--Summary: Islamic finance has started to grow in international finance across the globe, with some concentration in few countries. Nearly 20 percent annual growth of Islamic finance in recent years seems to point to its resilience and broad appeal, partly owing to principles that govern Islamic financial activities, including equity, participation, and ownership.
In theory, Islamic finance is resilient to shocks because of its emphasis on risk sharing, limits on excessive risk taking, and strong link to real activities. Empirical evidence on the stability of Islamic banks, however, is so far mixed. While these banks face similar risks as conventional banks do, they are also exposed to idiosyncratic risks, necessitating a tailoring of current risk management practices. The macroeconomic policy implications of the rapid expansion of Islamic finance are far reaching and need careful considerations.
Source: IMF
OECD updates its Better Life Index
June 2, 2015--The OECD today launched the 2015 update of the Better Life Index (www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org), an online, interactive tool that invites people to create their own index according to their priorities in 11 topics
-housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, work-life balance.
Source: OECD
Six Vanguard TSX-Listed International Equity ETFs To Broaden Diversification With All-Cap Exposure
June 2, 2015--Six ETFs to receive new names
Access to China A-shares proposed for Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Index ETF and Vanguard FTSE All-World ex Canada Index ETF
Management fee reductions announced for Europe and Asia Pacific ETFs
Two existing developed markets ETFs to provide exposure to Canada and exclude only the U.S.
Preliminary prospectus filed for two new developed markets ETFs that would exclude both Canada and the U.S.
Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. today announced a series of changes to its Canadian ETF line-up. The firm is proposing to broaden the diversification of six Vanguard TSX-listed international equity index ETFs and move them to all-capitalization benchmarks.
Source: Vanguard
Ready or not, here "IoT" comes!
June 2, 2015--By now you've surely heard the predictions: The Internet of Things (IoT) is coming and it's going to forever change the financial services industry.
So, just what is IoT? First documented in 1999, IoT is expected to offer advanced connectivity of devices, systems and services that will enable automation and advanced application
view the inforgraphic-The Internet of Things
Source: CDW
BIS-Credit risk management across sectors-report released by the Joint Forum
June 2, 2015--Today the Joint Forum released its report Developments in credit risk management across sectors: current practices and recommendations.
The report provides insight into the current supervisory framework around credit risk, the state of credit risk management at firms and implications for the supervisory and regulatory treatments of credit risk.
It is based on a survey that the Joint Forum conducted with supervisors and firms in the banking, securities and insurance sectors globally in order to understand the current state of credit risk management given the significant market and regulatory changes since the 2008 financial crisis. Fifteen supervisors and 23 firms from Europe, North America and Asia responded to the survey.
Source: BIS
