Global ETF News Older than One Year
World Bank Online: New Report Examines Risks of 4 Degree Hotter World by End of Century
Highlights:
New World Bank-commissioned report warns the world is on track to a "4°C world" marked by extreme heat-waves and life-threatening sea level rise.
Adverse effects of global warming are "tilted against many of the world's poorest regions" and likely to undermine development efforts and goals.
Bank eyes increased support for adaptation, mitigation, inclusive green growth and climate-smart development.
November 18, 2012--Like summer's satellite image of the melting Greenland ice sheet, a new report suggests time may be running out to temper the rising risks of climate change.
"Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided," (pdf) (eBook version) warns we’re on track for a 4°C warmer world marked by extreme heat-waves, declining global food stocks, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea level rise.
Moreover, adverse effects of a warming climate are “tilted against many of the world's poorest regions” and likely to undermine development efforts and global development goals, says the study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, on behalf of the World Bank. The report, urges "further mitigation action as the best insurance against an uncertain future."
view the World Bank report-Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided
Source: World Bank
Strategic alliances change face of industry
November 17, 2012--Index providers and stock exchange operators are forging new alliances as the fortunes of these two sectors become more intertwined and the influence of index-linked instruments and investment vehicles grows.
Exchange traded funds accounted for almost one-fifth of US equity trading last year, illustrating the vital role that index-linked investment vehicles now play in the activities of exchange operators.
Source: FT.com
FTSE Deal Prompts LSE Management Reshuffle
October 17, 2012--The London Stock Exchange (LSE.LN) has announced two senior management changes as part of its integration of FTSE, the global index provider it acquired in full in December.
David Lester, an 11-year LSE veteran and group director of information services, will take on the newly created role of group director of corporate strategy, the LSE said this morning.
He will continue in his other roles as chairman of both FTSE and Turquoise, the exchange's pan-European trading platform, as well as chairman of Proquote, its market data provider.
Mark Makepeace, chief executive of FTSE, will move into Lester's role to become group director of information services, incorporating both FTSE and the LSE Group's information services businesses. Makepeace, who will retain his role of FTSE chief, will report directly to Xavier Rolet, LSE chief executive.
Source: Wall Street Journal
IMF Working Paper-Effects of Capital Flow Liberalization-What is the Evidence from Recent Experiences of Emerging Market Economies
November 16, 2012-- Summary: This paper analyzes the experiences of emerging market economies (EMEs) that have liberalized capital flows over the past 15 years with respect to macroeconomic performance and risks to financial stability.
The results of the panel data regressions indicate that greater openness to capital flows is associated with higher growth, gross capital flows, and equity returns and with lower inflation and bank capital adequacy ratios. The effects vary depending on thresholds. As a potential application of these findings, the paper explores the possible effects of liberalization on China by applying the coefficients of explanatory variables to the corresponding variables of China in 2012–16.
Source: IMF
EPFR Global Fund Data News Release-US Equity Funds bear brunt of latest fears about policy and global growth
November 16, 2012--The second week of November saw investors digesting an unpleasant cocktail of European data, US budget skirmishes, Japanese politics and renewed violence in the Middle East.
They responded by pulling over $7 billion out of US Equity Funds and over $1 billion from US High Yield Bond Funds while slowing the pace of their commitments to Emerging Markets Equity and Bond Funds.
Overall, EPFR Global-tracked Bond Funds took in $5.29 billion during the week ending Nov. 14 while net redemptions from Equity Funds hit their highest level since the week preceding the US Federal Reserve’s announcement of QE3. Money Market Funds recorded outflows of $7.06 billion and Balanced Funds, which invest in both debt and equities, saw $1.12 billion taken out.
Visit http://www.epfr.com/overview.aspx for more info
Source: EPFR
IOSCO Publishes Recommendations for Securitisation Regulation
November 16, 2012--The International Organization of Securities Organizations (IOSCO) has published today a final report on Global Developments in Securitisation Regulation, which proposes a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring securitisation markets develop, but on a sound and sustainable basis.
When functioning properly, securitisation is a valuable financing tool that contributes to economic growth and the efficient diversification of risk. However, the Global Financial Crisis is recognised as having damaged investor interest and confidence in these markets. Since the outbreak of the Crisis, global securitisation markets activity has suffered a significant downturn. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is in the process of reviewing reforms of securitisation markets, as part of its ongoing work for the G20 on the shadow banking sector. In this context, the FSB requested that IOSCO conduct a stock-taking exercise on certain aspects of securitisation, including risk retention, transparency and standardisation, and develop policy recommendations as necessary.
view the Global Developments in Securitisation Regulation
Source: OECD
Differences narrow as MSCI defends its patch
November 16, 2012--Once a year, investors and analysts in the United Arab Emirates engage in what has almost become a ritual for the local financial community-guessing whether the oil-soaked Gulf country will finally be included by MSCI in its influential emerging markets index.
Local and international investment banks and brokerages spew out research reports predicting with varying degrees of confidence that the country will – or will not – be promoted from the index provider’s “frontier markets” gauge, and try to estimate the potential benefits.
Source: FT.com
Thomson Reuters Global Equities Monthly Market Share Data Reports-October 2012
October 15, 2012--Trading is fragmenting between exchanges and competing venues. But by how much and which venues? Find out in the summarised monthly reports.
Source: Thomson Reuters
India still the world's biggest gold market
India has shot to the top spot again, as the world's biggest gold market in Q3, as demand jumped 9%, while demand in China toppled 8%.
November 15, 2012--India has toppled China to emerge as the largest gold consumer in the third quarter of 2012. Though global gold demand fell in the Q3 with investors buying fewer bars and coins, India's gold demand revived in the June-September quarter 2012.
According to data compiled by the World Gold Council (WGC), gold demand totalled 223.1 tonnes, up 9% year on year from 204.8 tonnes in the third quarter of 2011. Demand from China actually slipped in the same quarter. China recorded an 8% drop in demand at 177 tonnes (191 tonnes) due to the economic slow down in the country. Jewellery demand was down 5% at 124 tonnes as retailers reduced their inventory
Source: MineWeb
FTSE Group, NAREIT and US Green Building Council Develop the First Investable Green Property Indexes
November 14, 2012--FTSE Group, NAREIT and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today that they have jointly developed the first investable green property indexes for both institutional and retail investors.
This collaboration brings together the global market leaders in US real estate indexing, REIT market expertise and environmental building standards. The indexes, currently in the final stages of implementation prior to customer use, will give investors a structured and disciplined way to measure and model the risk and reward profile of green property, using the first codified, transparent definition of listed green property. They will also provide investors with new ways to incorporate principles of sustainability into their property selections and portfolios, and access this investment theme through index-linked financial products.
The new family of green property indexes will be based on the market’s leading benchmark for US real estate, the FTSE NAREIT Index Series, using green data (LEED & Energy Star ratings) from USGBC. The USGBC is a leading non-profit organization known for its development of LEED, a global green building certification program, and its large diverse member community.
Source: FTSE
