Global ETF News Older than One Year
iShares cuts fees as price pressures mount
September 26, 2013--BlackRock has reduced the total expense ratio on a number of its exchange traded funds as pricing in the ETF industry is squeezed by competition, analysts say.
The US asset manager's ETF subsidiary, iShares, is harmonising fees as part of the integration of the ETF business it recently bought from Credit Suisse. Some legacy Credit Suisse funds were cheaper than their iShares counterparts.
Source: FT.com
FTSE Announces 2012 Annual Country Classification Review Results
September 25, 2013--FTSE Group ("FTSE"), a leading global index provider, has announced the results of its Annual Country Classification Review-2012.
This year, the FTSE Policy Group has not reclassified any countries but has added two further countries to the current Watch List of seven countries being considered for promotion or demotion between FTSE's market classifications: Argentina is listed for possible removal from the Frontier classification while Mongolia is under consideration for possible inclusion in the Frontier category
Source: FTSE
Basel III monitoring results published by the Basel Committee
September 25, 2013--The Basel Committee today published the results of its Basel III monitoring exercise. The study is based on the rigorous reporting processes set up by the Committee to periodically review the implications of the Basel III standards for financial markets.
The results of previous exercises in this series were published in March 2013, September 2012 and April 2012.
A total of 223 banks participated in the current study, comprising 101 large internationally active banks ("Group 1 banks", defined as internationally active banks that have Tier 1 capital of more than €3 billion) and 122 Group 2 banks (ie representative of all other banks).
view the full report-Basel III Monitoring Report
Source: BIS
EDHEC-Risk Institute study shows that corporate bonds can be a highly attractive addition to ALM solutions
September 24, 2013--In a paper produced as part of the research chair on "The Case for Inflation-Linked Corporate Bonds: Issuers' and Investors' Perspectives" at EDHEC-Risk Institute, supported by Rothschild & Cie, EDHEC-Risk researchers have provided a comprehensive analysis of the sources of added-value of corporate bonds for institutional investors.
The paper, "Analysing and Decomposing the Sources of Added-Value of Corporate Bonds within Institutional Investors' Portfolios," finds corporate bonds to be attractive additions to investors’ portfolios:
Introducing corporate bonds in performance-seeking portfolios (PSPs) typically generates positive benefits from an asset-liability management perspective since it will lead to substantial improvements in hedging benefits, which come at the cost of a less-than-proportional reduction in performance compared to equity-dominated portfolios.
Introducing corporate bonds in liability-hedging portfolios (LHPs) is also found to generate a positive impact on investor welfare since it leads to improvements in both hedging and performance benefits, especially for investors facing liabilities discounted using a credit spread adjustment.
Source: EDHEC
ETF Securities Precious Metals Weekly- -Precious Metals Rally as Volatility Rises After FOMC
September 23, 2013--Gold and silver surge as the Fed reminds the market US economic conditions remain subpar. The unexpected reluctance by the FOMC to reduce its bond buying program at last week's meeting buoyed precious metals and put pressured the US dollar. As financial markets enter a typically volatile time of the year, the Fed properly noted that recent US unemployment figures have been
disappointing, with Chairman Bernanke specifically mentioning the decline in the labor participation rate to a 35-year low in the post meeting press conference.
Increasing market volatility risks a potentially greater adverse impact on cyclical assets, with the S&P 500 equity benchmark up about 20% on the year. Investors are increasingly likely to look to gold as a portfolio insurance vehicle if volatility continues to gain. Silver was the week’s best performing precious metal, increasing 4.7%, leveraging its high correlation to gold. Gold and silver are likely to remain on tenterhooks until the next US unemployment number but should continue forming a foundation as the need to raise the US debt ceiling or face government shut-down, becomes the primary market focus. Geopolitical issues often boost gold for short duration periods, while sovereign debt issues normally have a longer lasting impact.
Source: ETF Securities
iShares to close 15 funds following Credit Suisse buyout
Firm lowers TER on 12 funds and pledges new "innovative" launches
September 23, 2013--iShares, Blackrock's exchange-traded funds platform, is closing 15 funds and lowering the total expense ratio on 12 others following its acquisition of Credit Suisse's ETF business in July of this year.
According to a statement from iShares, the funds will close due in large part to low investor demand.
Source: ftadviser.com
S&P: Exchanges' glitches put ratings at risk
September 20, 2013--Downgrade warning comes after a series of recent trading-market disruptions have heightened a crisis of market confidence among investors.
A rash of electronic breakdowns like the one that froze trading in Nasdaq-listed stocks for three hours in August could trigger cuts in credit ratings for stock exchanges, ratings agency Standard & Poor's warns in a new report.
Source: USA Today
SPDR -Weekly Market Report
September 20, 2013--ECONOMIES: The Fed holds off on tapering. Housing starts are now trending sideways in the US. Inflation slows in the US, Canada,the UK
and the eurozone. Investor confidence soars in Germany. Industrial activity improves in Japan. The Reserve Bank of Australia is on hold.
Summers removes himself from consideration as Fed Chairman.
MARKETS: The Fed's surprise decision sends equities higher and government bond yields lower. USD is also sharply lower, while gold is up.
Oil is down.
NEXT WEEK PREVIEWED
SPOTLIGHT: Q2 GDP revisions will be reported for the US and UK. Core orders are expected to rebound in the US.
Preliminary Septemberpurchasing managers' indexes will be available for Germany, France, and the overall eurozone. Inflation should edge higher in Japan.
visit http://spdru.com/ to request report
Source: SRDR University
EPFR Global News Release-Fed's decision to stay put caps record breaking week for Equity Funds
September 20, 2013--Flows into EPFR Global-tracked Equity Funds in the days leading up the Federal Open Markets Committee's September meeting suggested that investors-especially institutional ones-the US Federal Reserve to use a light hand when it came to reining in its current quantitative easing program.
As it turned out the FOMC, after months of forward guidance, opted to sit on its hands for at least another month. Among the upshots were new records for flows into those Equity Funds and another record high for the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Visit www.epfr.com for more info
Source: EPFR
ETF 'treasure map' revealed
September 20, 2013--Bank of America Merrill Lynch has emerged as the largest institutional user of exchange traded funds, with holdings of more than $50bn, according to a report that for the first time breaks down the ownership of ETFs.
One of the curiosities of the rapidly growing $2.2tn ETF market is just how little is known about the institutions using these vehicles. Publicly available data on investor types, size and location, the products they use and how these have changed over time has remained a mystery.
Source: FT.com
