Global ETF News Older than One Year
Global Economic Uncertainty, Surging Amid War, May Slow Growth
April 15, 2022--As the war in Ukraine unfolds, global uncertainty has surged, according to the latest reading of the World Uncertainty Index-a quarterly measure across 143 countries. This increase is a bad sign for growth. Our research finds that such increases foreshadow significant output declines. Based on our estimates, the rise in uncertainty in the first quarter could be enough to reduce full-year global growth by up to 0.35 percentage point.
While global uncertainty reached unprecedented levels with the initial coronavirus outbreak, it then fell sharply. However, the World Uncertainty Index rebounded in the first quarter, reaching levels close to what was seen around the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the United Kingdom's 2016 vote to leave the European Union.
Source: IMF
Russian oil supply drop to double in May, says IEA
April 13, 2022--The impact of sanctions and buyer aversion on Russian oil will take full effect from May onwards, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.
Countering that, expected lower demand in China, output increases from OPEC+ producers and beyond plus a record draw on emergency oil storage by the United States and its IEA member allies ought to prevent any sharp deficit, the agency said.
Source: reuters.com
Clean Energy 101: Hydrogen
What is Hydrogen and How Does it Fit into a Decarbonized Future?
April 13, 2022-Hydrogen has an essential role to play in the global effort to decarbonize the economy. How big a piece in the puzzle it is and where it best fits are two questions top of mind for business leaders and policymakers. To help inform this discussion, RMI will be publishing a new article series to help dispel misinformation about hydrogen. To start us off, this article explains what hydrogen is and where it can fit in the energy system.
The Basics
Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe. You may remember from grade-school science that it is the first element in the periodic table-the lightest, consisting of one proton and one electron. Hydrogen is highly reactive and a potent energy carrier.
Hydrogen is an essential element for life on earth. It makes up all living things - including plants, animals, and you and me- and is also found in molecules like water (it is the H in H2O) that enable life to exist and in fossil fuels like natural gas and coal. However, a significant amount of energy is needed to break down a molecule to get pure hydrogen, and that energy must be supplied either by heat or electricity.
Source: rmi.org
Money is about to enter a new era of competition
April 12, 2022--Digital technology is poised to change our relationship with money and, for some countries, the ability to manage their economies.
Money is one of humankind's most remarkable innovations. It makes it possible to trade products and services across great geographic distances, between people who may not know each other and have no particular reason to trust each other.
It can even be used to transfer wealth and resources over time. Without money, trade and commerce-all human economic activity, really-would be severely constrained in terms of time and space.
The privilege of issuing money is synonymous with economic power. So it should come as little surprise that history is replete with examples of currency competition, both within countries and between them. In China, home of the world's first paper money, currencies issued by private merchants and provincial governments competed for many centuries.
Source: technologyreview.com
Metaverse real estate prices are booming. This is why
April 10, 2022--Prices for land in the metaverse have surged this year, with some plots selling for millions of dollars.
Many brands want to secure space they think will be popular in the metaverse, in the same way they buy advertising space on popular websites.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Adidas and Warner Music Group have all invested.
But some say that location might not matter in the metaverse, as headsets will allow us to teleport around.
Imagine you live in a time before the internet. When we all had to work in offices, go to shops to buy things, when TV couldn't be streamed on demand and when most monetary transactions were made using notes and coins.
Source: weforum.org
Proof of Stake Explained
April 8, 2022--Proof of stake is a consensus mechanism used to verify new cryptocurrency transactions. Since blockchains lack any centralized governing authorities, proof of stake is a method to guarantee that data saved on the network is valid.
What Is Proof of Stake?
Decentralization is at the heart of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. There's no central gatekeeper to manage a blockchain's record of transactions and data. Instead, the network relies on an army of participants to validate incoming transactions and add them as new blocks on the chain.
Proof of stake is the consensus mechanism that helps choose which participants get to handle this lucrative task-lucrative because the chosen ones are rewarded with new crypto if they accurately validate the new data and don't cheat the system.
Source: forbes.com
Fight for Junior Talent in ETF Industry Drives 42% Surge in Pay
April 7, 2022--Average bonus across industry makes up 68% of salary: survey
Women, on average, were paid 16% less than men in the industry
The global exchange-traded fund industry is willing to pay a premium for junior staffers
While the average total compensation across the industry last year rose 10% to $265,000 from a year earlier, total compensation for analysts--considered entry-level workers in the industry--jumped by 42% to $87,000, according to a survey led by Blackwater Search & Advisory, a Europe-based ETF and digital assets recruiting firm.
Source: bloomberg.com
World Bank-From low to high inflation: Implications for emerging market and developing economies
April 7, 2022--1 Introduction
Global inflation has risen over the past year from less than 2% to over 6%, the highest level since 2008. The pickup has been broad-based, across nine-tenths of countries. Inflation is now running well above central bank inflation targets in almost all advanced economies and most inflation-targeting emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs).
The recent commodity price surge triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine will raise inflation further in 2022. This persistence of above-target inflation creates a historic monetary policy challenge. Price stability, generally defined as a low and stable rate of inflation, is a key aspect of the credibility of monetary policy, and of macroeconomic stability. Low and stable inflation, sustained over time, has generally been associated with robust and stable output growth and employment. In contrast, both very low and very high inflation have been associated with severe macroeconomic problems (Mishkin 2000, 2008, Schmidt 2021, Fell et al. 2021).
Source: cepr.org
Gold ETP inflows hit record high of $11.3bn in March
April 6, 2022--Investors dump European equity funds as fallout from the Ukraine war rocks markets
Purchases of gold exchange traded products hit an all-time record in March, while investors pulled record amounts from domestically listed European equity funds as the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine ripped through markets.
Global net inflows into gold ETPs rose fivefold month-on-month to $11.3bn in March, according to data from BlackRock, eclipsing the previous peak of $9.4bn in July 2020. The surge in buying helped push the gold price to within a whisker of its all-time high in early March, although it has since eased back.
Source: ft.com
Silver Hues: Building Age-Ready Cities
April 5, 2022--Highlights
The global population is growing older, and the world is getting more urban, which will require cities and towns to meet changing demands.
To prepare, cities need to become "age-ready", and the report suggest that they could start by focusing on these six areas: universal design, housing solutions, multigenerational spaces, physical mobility, accessible technology, and efficient spatial forms.
Creating age-ready cities allows older persons to continue to contribute economically and permits citizens of all ages and abilities to lead full, productive, and dignified lives.
The world is aging and becoming increasingly urban. For the first time, there are more older persons than children under five, and unprecedented challenges, from extreme weather events to continued conflict and violence are driving more people to cities for livelihoods, to be closer to family, have access to essential services and simply to enjoy their golden years.
view the World Bank report-Silver Hues: Building Age-Ready Cities
Source: worldbank.org
