Global ETF News Older than One Year
Emerging market investors should avoid BRICs – Cambridge Associates
May 19, 2011--Institutional investors, including pension funds, with allocations to emerging markets of more than 5% should focus away from BRICs in an approach that replicates their diversified exposure to developed markets, according to Cambridge Associates, a consultancy.
A paper on "making emerging market exposure more like developed market exposure" claimed that adopting long-only strategies focused on BRIC markets and "multinationals like Gazprom and Samsung" that happen to be in emerging markets meant investors would miss opportunities in smaller companies that are more directly exposed to emerging market growth.
Source: IP&E
Strauss-Kahn Resigns as IMF Managing Director
May 19, 2011--Dominique Strauss-Kahn, once considered a leading contender to win the French presidency next year, resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund after being charged with attempting to rape a New York hotel maid.
Strauss-Kahn, 62, informed the Executive Board of the IMF of his intention to resign as managing director with immediate effect, the IMF said in an e-mailed statement. “I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially -- especially -- I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence,” Strauss-Kahn said in a letter included in the IMF’s statement.
Source: Bloomberg
Finance: Capital flows debate offers an opportunity to shape financial globalization, OECD says
May 19, 2011--The risks posed by increasing capital flows require a coordinated package of macroeconomic, prudential and structural policies, with capital controls only to be considered as a last resort, according to a new report from the OECD.
Getting the Most Out of International Capital Flows encourages countries to take advantage of new opportunities for long-term income growth stemming from increased capital flows. But the report also recognizes that global financial integration can leave economies more vulnerable to risks at both the national and global level.
“Large capital inflows create a real macroeconomic challenge for economies, given the associated risks of excessive currency appreciation, credit booms and busts and sudden stops,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “Our analysis shows that structural reforms, in addition to promoting overall cross-border flows, could help to reduce vulnerabilities, by leading to a better composition of inflows, with more Foreign Direct Investment and less debt.”
view the Getting the Most Out of International Capital Flows
Source: OECD
Empowering ideas 2011: Report
May 19, 2011--Empowering ideas 2011: A look at 10 of the emerging issues in the power and utilities sector, now in its second year, suggests the recent natural disasters that led to a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan will have far-reaching impacts on the global nuclear power industry and offers insights into issues and trends in the coming year and identifies opportunities (e.g., the high growth of unconventional gas) and challenges (e.g., the security of energy supplies).
“The impact of the events in Japan on the nuclear industry will be both profound and long-lasting,” said Peter Bommel, DTTL Global Industry Leader for Energy & Resources. “As the demand for energy continues to increase, energy companies will face formidable challenges in balancing safety concerns with energy demands.”
The report includes the prediction that governments, utilities, and consumers will increasingly tap into energy efficiency and demand side management programs to address these challenges. Another trend, according to the report, is the growing importance of data analytics, which help companies analyze enormous data sets to create scenarios and take informed decisions.
The report outlines 10 forces impacting the global power and utilities sector:
The future of nuclear: The post-Japan path
Risk management: The new challenge
M&A: Is it time to buy or sell?
An energy resource dilemma: Is natural gas the clear winner?
read more
view report-Empowering ideas 2011
Source: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
BlackRock New Report ETF Landscape: Industry Review - Q1 2011
May 18, 2011--At the end of Q1 2011, the global ETF industry had 2,605 ETFs with 5,905 listings and assets of US$1,399.4 Bn from 142 providers on 48 exchanges around the world. This compared to 2,131 ETFs with 4,133 listings and assets of
US$1,081.9 Bn from 123 providers on 42 exchanges at the end of Q1 2010.
Additionally, there were 1,119 other ETPs with 1,835 listings and assets of US$183.7 Bn from 58 providers on 23 exchanges. This compared to 718 ETPs with 1,025 listings and assets of US$153.6 Bn from 42 providers on 18 exchanges at the end of Q1 2010.
Combined, there were 3,724 products with 7,740 listings, assets of US$1,583.2 Bn from 178 providers on 52 exchanges around the world at the end of Q1 2011. This compared to 2,849 products with 5,158 listings, assets of US$1,235.4 Bn from 147 providers on 44 exchanges at the end of Q1 2010.
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
BlackRock New Report * ETF Landscape: Emerging Market ETFs Industry Review - Q1 2011
May 18, 2011--ETF Landscape: Emerging Market ETFs Industry Review – Q1 2011 is a new report which provides an analysis of the growth in assets, net asset flows and trading volumes of all emerging and frontier market ETFs and ETPs listed globally.
At the end of Q1 2011, there were 549 ETFs/ETPs providing exposure to various emerging and frontier markets indices, with 1,119 listings and assets of US$246.4 Bn from 110 providers on 40 exchanges in 34 countries.
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
ExxonMobil Outlook -A view to 2030
May 18, 2011-Updated each year, the Outlook analyzes the trends that will shape global energy supply and demand over the coming decades.
As you will see in this year’s edition, the answers are both encouraging and challenging – and vary greatly at a country and regional level
"We have seen a massive increase in the value of new projects awarded in Iraq," James said. "The value of contracts awarded last year rose to $25 billion. This figure for Iraq, provided the politics allows it, can only keep going up." He said contracts awarded in both Algeria and Iran fell sharply in Algeria and Iran. Contracts awarded in Egypt rose in 2010 but James said that this trend is likely to be reversed in 2011.
OECD energy demand flat.
The developed economies that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will need energy to fuel continued economic recovery and growth. Yet, even with that economic expansion, OECD energy demand will be essentially unchanged through 2030.
The fundamental driver of this result is increased energy efficiency. And efficiency, combined with a shift toward cleaner-burning fuels, will cause OECD emissions to decline substantially through 2030.
Non OECD energy demand up more than 70 percent.
view the report-2010 The Out look for Energy: A View to 2030
Source: ExxonMobil
LSE seen as bid target on the rebound
May 18, 2011--If there is one deal that Bob Greifeld, Nasdaq OMX chief executive, has wanted to clinch above all others, it is buying the London Stock Exchange.
The British bourse escaped his grasp in 2007, after a bruising takeover attempt that turned hostile the previous year.
Source: FT.com
Global stocks hit 1-month low
May 17, 2011--World stocks fell to a one-month low on Tuesday on lingering doubts over the global economic recovery and worries about the debt of peripheral euro zone nations, while oil was pushed down by demand concerns and a firm dollar.
Wall Street stocks opened lower after weak data on housing and industrial production added to concerns the recovery is taking longer than expected. The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index fell 0.6%, down for the fourth consecutive session, after the chairman of euro zone finance ministers suggested Greece's debt could undergo a "soft" restructuring.
Source: FIN24
Impact of the Global Crisis on Banking Sector Soundness in Asian Low-Income Countries -IMF Working paper
May 17, 2011--Summary: The paper takes stock of the impact of the global financial crisis that began in late 2007 on banking sectors of Asian low-income countries, by exploring bank-level data provided by Bankscope.
The paper examines three key channels of possible crisis spillovers: exposures to (i) valuation changes of mark-to-market financial assets, (ii) a drop in crossborder funding, and (iii) rises in NPLs prompted by international real economic linkages. The paper finds that despite relatively low financial integration, the impact of the crisis on LIC banks, particularly the largest ones, were not insignificant. Impacts were most palpable through a loan-to-crossborder funding nexus.
Source: IMF
