Global ETF News Older than One Year
Index Association seeks ‘best practice’ standards
July 23, 2013--The Index Industry Association on Monday launched the first unified set of "best practice" guidelines for index providers amid continuing debate over the need for improvements in standards in the index funds market.
Global financial regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of the indexing industry in the aftermath of the Libor scandal.
Source: FT.com
Market highlights for first half-year 2013
July 23, 2013--The global market capitalization continued to increase (+3%) in the first half of 2013. The relatively good performance of stock markets in the recent period was largely driven by
the Americas.
The important growth rates of market capitalization observed in the last three semesters in Americas (chronologically +10.3%, +7.4% and +7.4%) enabled this region to significantly surpass the market capitalization level observed in June 2011, before the sharp decline in the summer 2011. By comparison, the Asia Pacific market capitalization slightly decreased in the first half of 2013 (-1.2%). This decrease was mainly due to exchange rates effect. In constant USD, the market capitalization increased by 4.6%. It increased by 0.6% in Europe, Africa, Middle East (+3.6% in constant USD). In both regions market capitalizations have not recovered fully from two years ago.
Source: WFE (World Federation of Exchanges)
G20 Ministers Focus on Tax Evasion, Stimulus Measures
July 22, 2013--The fight against tax evasion by multinational corporations and measures to ensure recovery amid the global economic turbulence came into the limelight at the two-day meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers that finished in Moscow on Saturday.
Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world's 20 biggest economies agreed to focus on boosting employment and economic growth and continue the policy of monetary support where needed, according to the closing communique from the meeting.
Source: The Moscow Times
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly-Gold Price Rallies Most Since 2011 as Investors Reassess US Interest Rate Outlook
July 22, 2013--The gold price posted a second consecutive weekly gain on the back of sustained monetary accommodation comments from FOMC chairman Ben Bernanke and a weaker US dollar.
The nearly 7% gain over the past two weeks is the largest gold price rise since November 2011. Gold ended the week just under US$1,300oz and appears to be building a firm base above US$1,200oz. Substantial physical demand, notably from China, increased central bank buying, unprecedented global monetary accommodation, a weaker than usual economic recovery and the recent price correction back to attractive value should be medium-term bullish for most precious metals prices.
Backwardation in gold market indicates continued shortages. Due to the quasi-currency status of gold, gold futures very rarely close in backwardation.
However, on July 19, the August 2013 futures contract settled at US$1,292.9/oz. on the COMEX, US$0.40/oz. lower than the thinly traded July 2013 contract. The prior week, the cost of borrowing gold rose to its highest level since 2008, as the recent gold sell-off has substantially tightened the leasing market.
Source: ETF Securities
Q2 Performance Results for Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices and S&P Shariah Indices
July 22, 2013--S&P Dow Jones Indices, a market leader in global index innovation, announces the release of S&P Dow Jones Indices Shariah Quantitative Analysis: Q2 2013.
Published quarterly, this report analyzes components of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices and S&P Shariah Indices with comparative performance and fundamentals.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
Global Short & Leverage ETF/ETP assets hit $51bn, as equity investors become bullish again
June 22, 2013--Global S&L inflows of over $2 billion in June as AUM reached $50.9 bn, up nearly $7bn this year as monthly trading volumes rise 70%
Equities saw bullish flows in May after being bearish over the previous five months
Japanese equities remain popular, increasing their net notional long positions by $934 million as Boost launched Europe's first Short and Leverage ETPs tracking the TOPIX index
Fixed Income investors became bearish, consistent with an expected rise in interest rates
Investors became slightly bullish on gold during June, reducing short positions, while investors were also bullish on silver and natural gas
Global Short and Leveraged ETP assets rose by $6.8bn (15%) in the first six months of 2013 to $50.9bn, as investors continue to increase their usage of Short and Leveraged (S&L) ETPs. As a result of this increased usage and interest in S&L ETPs, Boost recently launched 16 new equity S&L ETPs, taking its platform to 36 ETPs. The new launch included the world’s first FTSE 250 S&L ETPs, Europe’s first S&L Japanese equity ETPs tracking the TOPIX index, plus additional leverage factors (-1x, -2x and +2x) for Boost’s most popular products which include FTSE 100 and gold.
Source: BOOST
State Street Reports Second-Quarter 2013 GAAP and Operating-Basis EPS of $1.24 on Revenue of $2.6 Billion
July 19, 2013-- In announcing today's financial results, Joseph L. Hooley, State Street's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, "We reported a strong second quarter with revenue growth driven by new business and improved equity markets. Seasonal factors and increased market volatility benefited our securities finance and foreign exchange businesses.
The second-quarter results also reflected our continued success in realizing the expected benefits from our Business Operations and Information Technology Transformation program and ongoing expense management. Importantly, we achieved positive operating leverage compared to both the first quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2012.
We remain focused on returning capital to our shareholders. During the second quarter of 2013, we purchased approximately $560 million of our common stock and have approximately $1.5 billion remaining on our March 2013 common stock purchase program authorizing the purchase of up to $2.1 billion of our common stock through March 31, 2014."
Source: Wall Street Journal
ASIC and European Union authorities cooperate on alternative investment funds
July 19, 2013--ASIC has entered into 29 supervisory cooperation arrangements with European Union (EU) securities regulators, agreeing to help each other supervise fund managers operating across borders.
The cooperation is crucial in allowing Australian fund managers to manage and market Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in the EU under the rules of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). An AIF includes hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate funds, among others.
Source: ASIC
EPFR Global News Release-Flows bounce back as central bankers hit some of the right notes in early July
July 19, 2013--Developed Markets Equity Fund flows heat up as QE speculation cools down
Investors dared to dream of a sustained, US-led cyclical recovery again in mid-July as American central bankers continued to stress that data, not pre-conceived timetables, will guide any decisions about winding down the Federal Reserve's current quantitative easing program.
The week ending July 17 saw flows into EPFR Global-tracked US Equity Funds hit a five year high and commitments to US High Yield Bond Funds hit a level last seen in early 4Q11.
Hopes for QE-assisted recovery were not confined to funds focusing on the US. Investors – particularly institutional ones -- continue to buy into Japan’s aggressive program for kick-starting its economy and into the notion that the worst may be over for Europe
Visit www.epfr.com for more info.
Source: EPFR
Huge demand for physical gold has more than countered ETF sales
The WGC's Marcus Grubb has emphasised in a New York interview that gold demand, particularly in Asia, and likely reductions in supply, will have more than balanced the big sales out of the gold ETFs
July 19, 2013--Following on to a rather bearish view on the gold supply/demand picture by French bank Natixis earlier this week,
and reported on Mineweb (see Gold supply surplus could send prices plummeting--Natixis ), the World Gold Council's Managing Director of Investment, Marcus Grubb, has presented a rather different viewpoint in an interesting video interview with The Street, in New York. Here he points out that the big outflows from global gold ETFs so far this year, which he reckoned to have been some 600 tonnes, have been more than countered in the first half of the year by enormous demand for physical gold, particularly from China and India (despite the latter’s clampdown on gold imports).
Source: MineWeb
