Global ETF News Older than One Year
Morgan Stanley Overhauls Equity Systems to Cut Microseconds
May 8, 2013--Morgan Stanley (MS) has overhauled its trading infrastructure for U.S. equities to keep pace with a marketplace in which millionths of a second count.
The bank modernized its technology for stock trading to save fractions of a millisecond and is now moving clients onto the new platform, Bill Neuberger, global co-head of Morgan Stanley Electronic Trading at the New York-based company, said by phone. A millisecond is a thousandth of a second and a microsecond is a millionth. When carrying out buy or sell orders for customers, the changes will enable the bank to get 99 percent of the shares available on exchanges at a specific price, up from the high 80s two years ago, he said
Source: Bloomberg
Exchange Derivatives Trading Rose in First Quarter
May 8, 2013--The number of derivatives traded on exchanges rose in the first quarter as continuing political and economic risks drove traders into the market, according to data provided by the members of the World Federation of Exchanges.
Trading of exchange-traded derivatives globally increased 1.4 percent to 4.95 billion in the first quarter of 2013 from 4.88 billion in the comparable period last year, Romain Devai, WFE’s research and projects manager, said in an interview at IOMA, the World Federation of Exchanges’ derivatives conference, in Busan, South Korea.
Source: Bloomberg
Mirae Asset targets global ETF buildout
May 7, 2013--The firm has set its sights on the US, Latin America and South Asia as it strives to offer a broader suite to institutions. But market leader Samsung sees greater growth in the retail market.
Mirae Asset Global Investments is setting out to expand its exchange-traded fund (ETF) business globally into the US, Latin America and South Asia.
Source: Asian Investor
Global shares near 5-year high as central bank rally rolls on
May 7, 2013--World shares hit their strongest in almost five years and Germany's Dax reached an all-time high on Tuesday, as signals top central banks will remain supportive of growth continued to drive markets.
MSCI's global index, which tracks stocks in 45 countries, edged past its June 2008 highs in Asian trading after Japan's Nikkei stock market, which had been closed on Monday, jumped in a delayed reaction to Friday's U.S. jobs data.
Source: Reuters
BlackRock ETP Research-Record Growth Unfazed by Gold
May 7, 2013--Global ETPs attracted $10.3bn in April, keeping YTD flows ahead of last year's record pace
YTD global ETPs have seen inflows of $79.9bn, ahead of the $66.3bn of inflows accounted for during the same period in 2012.
In April, $9.5bn of flows into fixed income and $9.6bn of flows into equities were offset by ($8.7bn) of outflows from gold ETPs. Flows of ETPs moderated as investors expressed caution amidst less positive economic growth forecasts.
Within fixed income ETPs, flows into US Treasury ETPs picked up with $2.2bn, while short maturity ETPs continued to attract the majority of fixed income flows with $5.6bn for the month. Flows into shorter duration products show investors are continuing to position themselves for a potential rise in interest rates.
Equity ETP flows were led by developed equities with $13.1bn of flows, dividend income with $3.4bn of flows and minimum volatility funds with $2.5bn of flows throughout the month. These flows continue the trend of developed market exposure and non-market cap weighted products leading the flows for equities YTD.
Outflows from gold ETPs now total ($17.9bn) YTD as investors continue to witness increased volatility in the price of gold.
Source: BlackRock ETP Research
ETF Securities-Precious Metals Weekly: ECB Rate Cut Buoys Precious Metals Prices but Improving US Jobs Cap Gains
May 6. 2013--The ECB cut interest rates for the first time since July 2012 and left the door open for more action including imposing negative rates on commercial banks.
The cut from 0.75% to 0.50% sent precious metals higher as some investors looked to hedge against on-going economic uncertainty. The US dollar rose against the Euro as more investors expect the Fed has less easing potential than the ECB. Better-than-expected US payrolls numbers (including large upward revisions to past numbers) released at the end of last week consolidated that view, but capped some of the gains in precious metals seen earlier in the week. The gold price rise was somewhat more muted compared to when the ECB cut rates in July 2012, as the bearish tone for gold lingers. Despite obvious risks to the global recovery, investors are shunning gold, believing that the extremely accommodative central bank policy can circumvent another crisis and at the same time avoid generating inflationary pressures. Recent indicators for the global cyclical picture have been mixed with the US ISM coming in a touch higher than expected, but the Chinese PMI falling from last month and the Euro area PMI remaining below 50 (indicating a manufacturing contraction). Silver, the most industrial of the precious metals fell on the back of the Chinese PMI numbers.
Source: ETF Securities
IMF Working paper-Monetary Policy in Emerging Markets: Taming the Cycle
May 3, 2013--Summary: In contrast to advanced markets (AMs), procyclical monetary policy has been a problem for emerging markets (EMs), with macroeconomic policies amplifying economic upswings and deepening downturns.
The stark difference in policy has not been subject to extensive study and this paper attempts to address the gap. Key findings, using a large sample of EMs over the past 50 years, are: (i) EMs have adopted increasingly countercyclical monetary policy over time, although large differences remain among EMs and policies became more procyclical during the recent crisis. (ii) Inflation targeting and better institutions have been key factors behind the move to countercyclicality. (iii) Only deep financial markets allow EMs with flexible exchange rate regimes turn countercyclical. (iv) More countercyclical policy is associated with far less volatile output. The economically meaningful impact of IT on monetary policy countercyclicality and output variability is another reason in its favor, over and above better inflation outcomes.
view the IMF Working paper-Monetary Policy in Emerging Markets: Taming the Cycle
Source: IMF
Bond and Sector Funds soak up fresh money ahead of Fed and ECB meetings
May 3, 2013--Bond Funds pulled in over $7 billion for the second week running and 10 of the 11 major Sector Fund groups tracked by EPFR Global posted inflows going into May as investors responded to some uninspiring macroeconomic data and positioned themselves ahead of policy meetings by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Overall, flows into Bond Funds during the week ending May 1 totaled a record setting $10.3 billion-although $2 billion of that was tied to a single fund launch – versus net inflows of $2.24 billion for Equity Funds. Outflows from Money Market Funds exceeded $21 billion as they extended their longest outflow streak since a 17 week run ended in mid-2Q10. But Japan Money Market Funds continue to swim against this tide, pulling in another $1.4 billion.
Source: EPFR
IOSCO Publishes Principles for CIS Valuation
May 3, 2013--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions published today the final report on Principles for the Valuation of Collective Investment Schemes, containing a list of Principles intended to serve as a basis for both industry practitioners and regulators to assess the quality of regulation and industry practices regarding the valuation of collective investment schemes (CIS).
The final report revises IOSCO’s Principles for CIS Valuation, originally developed in 1999, to take into account subsequent regulatory, industry and market developments. Many complex and hard-to-value assets are now eligible for CIS portfolios, including some that did not exist a decade ago. The value of such assets cannot be determined by using quoted prices (so- called mark-to-market), but instead CIS may rely on internal techniques which imply management’s judgment (so-called mark-to-model). The difficulty and subjectivity needed for certain valuations increases regulatory risks and calls for a set of principles to guide the identification of policies and procedures designed to ascertain the proper valuation of CIS assets.
view the Principles for the Valuation of Collective Investment Schemes-Final Report
Source: IOSCO
BATS Global Markets U.S. Equities Market Share Rose In April- Europe Depository Receipts Trading Reached Monthly Record
Overall European Market Share 22.4%-U.S. Equities 10.9%; U.S. Options 4.0%
May 3, 2013--BATS Global Markets (BATS) today reported increased market share for its U.S. equities segment in April, finishing at 10.9% vs 10.6% in March. BATS Options rose to 4.0% from 3.8%.
Also in April, BATS Chi-X Europe set a new monthly market share record in Depository Receipt (DR) trading, with BATS Chi-X Europe earning 7.1% market share, exceeding its previous record of 5.9% set in March 2013. BATS Chi-X Europe also matched last month's market share record in Spain's IBEX 35 of 12.8%.
BATS Chi-X Europe, the largest pan-European equities exchange, offers trading in more than 50 DRs from 12 markets including Russia, India and South Korea. The average daily notional value traded of DRs on BATS Chi-X Europe has increased 50% to €41.5 million in April from €27.6 million in January.
Source: BATS
