Global ETF News Older than One Year
EPFR Global News Release-Equity Fund flows following key indexes higher as fears about Syrian conflict recede
September 13, 2013--With fears of an imminent US strike on Syria receding and positive GDP numbers coming in from all corners of the globe, flows into EPFR Global-tracked Equity Funds rebounded during the second week of September to their highest level since mid-July.
Commitments to US and Emerging Markets Equity Funds hit nine and 30 week highs respectively, Europe Equity Funds posted their second biggest inflow year-to-date and flows into Japan Equity Funds hit levels last seen since the third week of May.
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Source: EPFR
Concerns Over Shadow Banking, Optimism for Emerging Markets
Global growth is recovering, but still weak.
While GDP growth of developing countries is slowing, it is still much faster than the GDP growth of developed countries.
Chinese economy is entering a period of slower growth.
September 13, 2013--Emerging markets will still lead global economic growth, said Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but there will continue to be challenges.
As the world pulls itself out of the financial crisis, uncertainty and volatility remain the norm for the global economy.
Panellists in a debate on the global economic outlook discussed the Chinese shadow banking sector, referring to the system of non-bank intermediaries that provide services similar to traditional financial institutions, and whose size and health has concerned some investors.
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
Trade and Development Report 2013: Adjusting to the Changing Dynamics of the World Economy
September 12, 2013--New UNCTAD report argues that the world economy is experiencing a structural shift, and that countries must introduce fundamental changes in their growth strategies in order to adjust to it.
In particular, developing and transition economies that have been overly dependent on exports should give a greater role to domestic and regional demand.
The Trade and Development Report 2013 notes that the current global economic and financial crisis reflects a structural shift of the world economy, and that adjusting to this structural shift requires fundamental changes to the prevailing growth strategies.
view the UNCTAD Trade And Development Report, 2013
Source: UNCTAD
WEF New Report: Bringing Impact Investing From the Margins to the Mainstream
September 12, 2013--World Economic Forum report highlights the potential of impact investing to generate market returns while addressing key social and environmental challenges
79% of impact investors are already targeting market rates of return; to reach a 2020 market projection of more than US$ 500 billion, the impact investment sector needs to grow significantly
The report engaged 150 mainstream investors, business executives and policy-makers, advancing the Forum's impact investment agenda Download the report here.
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, today launched From the Margins to the Mainstream: Assessment of the Impact Investment Sector and Opportunities to Engage Mainstream Investors. The report provides a market assessment and recommendations for how mainstream investors can more actively engage in impact investing.
Impact investing- an investment approach intentionally seeking to create both financial return and positive social impact that is actively measured-has been hailed as an emerging investment approach with the potential to reconcile key shortcomings in traditional financial markets.
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
FSB publishes monitoring note on the effects of regulatory reforms on Emerging Market and Developing Economies
September 12, 2013--The FSB published on 12 September 2013 a monitoring note on the effects of regulatory reforms on Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs).
The note, which has been prepared in collaboration with standard-setting bodies and international financial institutions, provides an update of monitoring developments since the FSB's June 2012 study.
Source: Financial Stability Board (FSB)
Concerns Mount over Impact of Monetary Policy Unwinding
September 12, 2013--The impact of the tapering off of the US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing will affect emerging markets in different ways, depending on their respective fundamentals.
The variation in performance makes it difficult for global businesses to formulate strategy and manage risk.
While emerging economies recovered strongly from the global economic crisis, concerns are rising about how well some countries will fare once monetary policy stimulus in the US and other developed economies unwinds. In a session on new sources of growth at the World Economic Forum's seventh Annual Meeting of the New Champions, leading economists warned of the consequences of the tapering off of quantitative easing by the US Federal Reserve Bank, which is expected to start this month.
The unwinding of monetary policy is one reason that global growth has slowed, including in emerging markets, said Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
IMF Working Paper-Procyclical Behavior of Institutional Investors During the Recent Financial Crisis: Causes, Impacts, and Challenges
September 11, 2013--Summary: This paper (i) provides evidence on the procyclical investment behavior of major institutional investors during the global financial crisis; (ii) identifies the main factors that could account for such behavior; (iii) discussses the implications of procyclical behavior; and (iv) proposes a framework for sound investment practices for long-term investors.
Such procyclical investment behavior is understandable and may be considered rational from an individual institution's perspective. However, our main conclusion is that behaving in a manner consistent with longterm investing would lead to better long-term, risk-adjusted returns and, importantly, could lessen the potential adverse effects of the procyclical investment behavior of institutional investors on global financial stability.
Source: IMF
MSCI moves 'beyond BRICs' with new EM index
Index provider unveils newly-weight emerging market benchmark aimed at expanding investment horizons past big four nations.
September 12, 2013--Indexing and investment specialist MSCI has launched a benchmark designed to capture the performance of emerging markets outside of the traditional BRIC nations.
The MSCI EM Beyond BRICs index is comprised of 17 emerging and frontier nations, while excluding China, Russia, Brazil and India.
Source: CityWire
ETF Securities Precious Metals Weekly- US Jobs Disappoint, Precious Metals Eye FOMC
September 9, 2013--China physical demand continues unabated. Precious metals came under pressure last week as the Syria premium receded and stock markets recovered on the back of generally better than expected economic data.
However, following weaker than expected US unemployment data on Friday precious metals prices rebounded. August US unemployment was consistent with the July figure, indicating stagnating employment growth. Despite a decline in the unemployment rate to 7.3%, the labor participation rate declined to 63.2%, the lowest since 1978 and non-farm payrolls remain disappointing. In addition, with the US expected to hit its budget ceiling by mid-October, concern surrounding policy relating to US debt may also help support the gold price. In the background, China's demand for physical gold continues unabated, with demand well ahead of 2012 levels and well on track to hit a record amount in 2013.
Source: ETF Securities
Dow Jones - UBS Commodity Index Market Attributes August 2013
September 9, 2013--KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Except for DJ-UBS Softs, all the sectors posted gains for the month, with the DJ-UBS CI coming in at 3.4%.
The DJ-UBS Precious Metals was the best performing sector in August, up 9.3%.
DJ-UBS Energy was the second-best performing sector, up 3.1% with petroleum up 3.5%.
DJ-UBS Grains rose 2.9% in August, driven by weather conditions and fundamentals, while the DJ-UBS Softs declined 3.3% due to ample crop supplies.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
DJ-UBS CI gained 3.4% in August, but remains off 6.2% YTD. DJ-UBS Energy, which makes up about 38% of the index, rose 3.1%. DJ-UBS Softs finished last, down 3.3%.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
