Global ETF News Older than One Year
Climate change is making ocean waves more powerful, threatening to erode many coastlines
June 14, 2021--A new report looks at the impacts of rising ocean temperatures on the size of waves.
Rising ocean levels and stronger waves could have devastating consequences for coastal communities.
But reducing greenhouse emissions and helping communities to adapt can help to reverse these effects.
Sea level rise isn't the only way climate change will devastate the coast. Our research, published today, found it is also making waves more powerful, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.
We plotted the trajectory of these stronger waves and found the coasts of South Australia and Western Australia, Pacific and Caribbean Islands, East Indonesia and Japan, and South Africa are already experiencing more powerful waves because of global warming.
This will compound the effects of sea level rise, putting low-lying island nations in the Pacific- such as Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands- in further danger, and changing how we manage coasts worldwide.
view the Natural Variability and Warming Signals in Global Ocean Wave Climates report
Source: weforum.org
World Bank Report: Investing in Protected Areas Reaps Big Rewards
June 14, 2021--A new World Bank report released today shows that for every dollar governments invest in protected areas and support for nature-based tourism, the economic rate of return is at least six-times the original investment.
The report, "Banking on Protected Areas: Promoting sustainable nature-based tourism to benefit local communities" found that the original investment triggered a chain of benefits for local businesses and households-even for those not directly connected to the tourism sector.
Given these economic benefits, the report argues that the promotion of sustainable tourism in protected areas should be included in COVID-19 economic recovery plans, an investment that creates local jobs, improves incomes and protects biodiversity.
view the World Bank Report: Investing in Protected Areas Reaps Big Rewards
Source: worldbank.org
ETF securities lending almost doubles in four years
June 9, 2021--The funds' securities lending jumps 77% outstripping the 21% growth of the broader market
Securities lending by exchange traded funds has almost doubled since 2017, data from EquiLend show, reflecting the huge growth in assets under management in the ETF industry as a whole.
The value of ETFs' on-loan balances-the value of securities on loan at any point in time- rose 77 per cent, from an average of $37.5bn in 2017 to $66bn between January 1 and mid-May, according to EquiLend, a securities lending platform. This dwarfed an overall increase of 21 per cent in the wider securities lending market.
Source: FT.com
Trackinsight: Shipping, Silver and Sector Plays Dominate ETF Markets in May
June 8, 2021--A new record high of $8.8 Trillion has been reached by ETF assets in May. Significant positive flows across European and North American ETFs were registered over this past month, achieving a total of $509 Billion of new flows year-to-date.
Over this period, investors have been migrating to traditional store-value products such as Gold and Silver. Finally, the cost of shipping good has skyrocketed leading to a 192% increase in the Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF since the start of the year.
Source: trackinsight.com
Four Factors Behind the Metals Price Rally
June 8, 2021--As economies reopen in various parts of the world, the price of some commodities has soared, including the prices of prominent industrial metals. The extent to which the metals price rally may lose steam depends on how multiple factors will play out.
As our latest chart of the week shows, metals prices have increased by 72 percent relative to their pre-pandemic levels-reaching a nine-year high in May (in inflation adjusted terms). The increase has been broad-based across industrial metals-copper is up 89 percent in May (year-over-year), iron ore is up 116 percent, and nickel is up 41 percent. The prices of most agricultural and energy commodities are also tracking upward, but at a slower rate. Energy commodities (oil, coal, and natural gas), in particular, sit only a few percentage points above pre-pandemic levels.
Source: IMF
Global Recovery Strong but Uneven as Many Developing Countries Struggle with the Pandemic's Lasting Effects
June 8, 2021--Output to remain below pre-COVID trends despite robust rebound by US and China
The global economy is expected to expand 5.6% in 2021, the fastest post-recession pace in 80 years, largely on strong rebounds from a few major economies.
However, many emerging market and developing economies continue to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, the World Bank says in its June 2021 Global Economic Prospects.
Despite the recovery, global output will be about 2% below pre-pandemic projections by the end of this year. Per capita income losses will not be unwound by 2022 for about two-thirds of emerging market and developing economies. Among low-income economies, where vaccination has lagged, the effects of the pandemic have reversed poverty reduction gains and aggravated insecurity and other long-standing challenges.
view the World Bank Global Economic Prospects June 2021 report
Source: worldbank.org
World Bank The Global Economic Outlook in five charts
June 8, 2021-The global economy is set to expand 5.6 percent in 2021-its strongest post-recession pace in 80 years. This recovery is uneven and largely reflects sharp rebounds in some major economies amid highly unequal vaccine access, with many poorer countries facing subdued prospects.
By 2022, last year's per capita income losses are not anticipated to be reversed in about two-thirds of emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). To help repair the damage from the pandemic, policy makers will need to promote growth-enhancing reforms and steer their economies onto a green, resilient, and inclusive development path.
1. Global growth is projected to recover in 2021, fueled by robust rebounds in some major economies
The strength of the near-term global recovery is largely attributable to a few major economies, such as the United States and China, with many emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) lagging behind. The United States and China are each expected to contribute over one-quarter of global growth in 2021, with the U.S. contribution nearly triple its 2015-19 average.
Source: worldbank.org
IOSCO Statement on Benchmarks Transition
June 2, 2021--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) reiterates the importance of ensuring a smooth and timely transition away from LIBOR. Sound functioning of systemically important benchmarks is vital to the global economy and financial markets.
The timelines for the end of all LIBOR panels are now clear. Continued reliance of global financial markets on LIBOR benchmarks, particularly the most widely used USD LIBOR settings, poses risks to financial stability, market integrity and investor protection, which are IOSCO's three core objectives. It also creates various consumer protection, litigation and reputational risks
Source: IOSCO
Why central bankers no longer agree on how to deal with inflation
June 2, 2021--Once, central bankers knew what they needed to do to deal with inflation. As they struggled with the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the consensus on how to best promote low and stable price growth has broken.
After years of setting interest rates based on inflation forecasts and seeking to reach a target of about 2%, major monetary authorities around the world are adopting different strategies.
Source: quebecnewstribune.com
Becoming Material: the systemic risks of sustainability need to be incorporated into Modern Portfolio Theory
June 2, 2021-At the moment, changes in materiality and the risk/return profile of the capital markets are taken as entirely exogenous by MPT
Viewed with historical distance and perspective, the connections between societal norms, law, regulation and corporate behaviour are quite apparent. What is considered socially (market) acceptable changes over time and location, sometimes slowly and sometimes quite rapidly.
Slavery, while always controversial among non-slaves (hardly controversial among enslaved people), was part and parcel of early capitalism, but eventually made illegal (though we note that quasi-slave and clandestine practices continue). The same with child labour, labour health and safety standards, hours of work, workplace discrimination and a host of other issues.
Companies and investors traditionally regard values, during the period when they are coalescing into societal norms, as 'non-financial'. A better term might be 'not-yet-financial', making it clear that norm shifts and new understandings, once adopted by a critical mass of investors, firms, the general population and sometimes regulators, become financially relevant and sometimes legally ‘material.
Source: responsible-investor.com
