Global ETF News Older than One Year
Northern Trust Study: Alternative Indexes the New Active Decision in Beta Management
Global survey of 51 institutional investors representing US$800bn in assets
April 25, 2013--Institutional investors, increasingly considering the full range of active and passive strategies available, may view the allocation to alternative indexes as the new active decision in beta management. This is according to new research from the asset management business of Northern Trust which surveyed the views of 51 institutional investors across the globe, representing a collective US$800bn in assets under management.
The survey forms the basis of the white paper entitled, The New Active Decision in Beta Management, which profiles how early adopters of the allocation to alternative indexes are using the approach. It follows a similar study by Northern Trust last year which examined the blurring lines between passive and active management and the rise of customized beta strategies.
view the Northern Trust Study: Alternative Indexes the New Active Decision in Beta Management
Source: Northern Trust
World stocks higher, British economy grows in 1Q
World stock markets mostly higher on hopes central banks to support growth
April 25, 2013--World stocks were mostly higher Thursday as a slump in orders for U.S. durable goods and other data convinced investors that central banks would continue efforts to help the global economic recovery.
Confidence also got a boost after Britain said its economy grew in the first quarter of the year. The Office for National Statistics said Thursday that the economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.3 percent from the previous quarter.
Source: FIN24
IMF Working paper-The Dynamic Effect of Social and Political Instability on Output: The Role of Reforms
April 23, 2013--Summary: The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamic effect of social and political instability on output. Using a panel of up to 183 countries from 1980 to 2010, the results of the paper suggest that social conflicts have a significant and negative impact on output in the short-term with the magnitude of the effect being a function of the intensity of political instability.
The results also show that the recovery of output over the medium-term depends on the ability of the country to implement, in the aftermath of a social instability episode, reforms aimed at improving the level of governance. The results are robust to different checks and estimation strategies.
Source: IMF
Goldman ends gold 'short' call
April 23, 2013--Goldman Sachs, whose bearish call helped push down the gold price two weeks ago, has advised clients it was closing the recommendation while warning that the precious metal could face further declines.
Investors who had followed the Wall Street’s bank advice to “short”, or initiate a bearish position on the Comex gold futures market on April 10, and then closed the trade on Tuesday, would have posted gains of more than 10 per cent.
Source: FT.com
IMF Working paper-Fiscal Sustainability: A 21st Century Guide for the Perplexed
April 22, 2013--Summary: This paper critically reviews recent work regarding the sustainability of public debt. It argues that Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSAs) should be more than mere mechanical simulation exercises.
Instead, a DSA should be linked to some objective regarding the distribution of fiscal burdens and distortions over time (in the tradition of Barro's 1979 tax smoothing objective). The paper discusses objective functions that yield simple and transparent fiscal policy rules.
view the IMF Working paper-Fiscal Sustainability: A 21st Century Guide for the Perplexed
Source: IMF
Scott Ebner moves to global State Street role
April 22, 2013--The man in charge of developing exchange-traded funds at SPDR ETFs has been promoted to the new role of head of global product development and research for State Street Global Advisors.
Scott Ebner will now oversee the creation of new institutional products around the world as well as ETFs for the $2.2 trillion fund manager. He moved to London when he joined State Street’s SPDR ETFs business in 2010 and will relocate to Boston later this year, the firm said.
Source: Financial News
IOSCO Publishes Report on Technological Challenges to Market Surveillance
April 22, 2013--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published today a final report on Technological Challenges to Effective Market Surveillance: Issues and Regulatory Tools, which makes recommendations to help market authorities address the technological challenges facing effective market surveillance.
An effective surveillance regime is needed to ensure that trading in a given market is fair and orderly, and that market authorities have the ability to detect or uncover market abuse. But in recent years, technological developments in securities markets render it increasingly difficult to achieve these goals.
Source: IOSCO
EL-ERIAN: It's Official-The World Needs To Worry About The Damage Caused By QE
April 20, 2013--It is now official: "We will be mindful of unintended negative side effects stemming from extended periods of monetary easing." This is how the G-20, the most important country grouping today, put it in the communique they issued Friday night.
But what exactly are they talking about?
It all started with the difficulties that most advanced economies faced in generating adequate growth and employment after the 2008 global financial crisis.
Source: Business Insider
Growth in Europe and Central Asia Continues, but Slowly and Unevenly
April 19, 2013--Most economies in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region grew in 2012, with an average growth rate of 2.5 percent, and are expected to grow in 2013 at a slightly higher rate of about 2.9 percent, World Bank officials said at a press briefing during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2013.
Recovery in ECA will continue to be the slowest compared to other regions in the world, and will be multi-speed, with the western part of the region growing at a much slower pace than the eastern part. Protracted recession and slow growth recovery further aggravate the persistent unemployment in some parts of the region, which in turn has long-term implications for the region’s competitiveness and social inclusion.
Source: World Bank
World Development Indicators 2013 Released
Definitive Reference for Measuring Development Progress
April 18, 2013--The 2013 edition of World Development Indicators (WDI), released today, includes the latest available data on global development, poverty, the quality of people's lives, the environment, the economy, the functioning of states and markets, and global links of finance, trade, and migration.
As World Bank Group President Jim Young Kim highlighted yesterday, new estimates of extreme poverty show there were 1.2 billion people still living on less than $1.25 a day in 2010, a decrease of 100 million since 2008. The global rate of extreme poverty fell to 20.6 percent, less than half the 1990 rate of 43.1 percent.
view the World Development Indicators 2013
Source: World Bank
