Global ETF News Older than One Year
Fintech Market Reports Rapid Growth During COVID-19 Pandemic
December 3, 2020--The fintech market has continued to help expand access to financial services during the COVID-19 pandemic-particularly in emerging markets-with strong growth in all types of digital financial services except lending, according to a joint study by the World Bank, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School, and World Economic Forum.
Access to affordable financial services is critical for poverty reduction and economic growth. For poor people, especially women, access to and use of basic financial services can raise incomes, increase resilience, and improve their lives. Fintech innovations are helping reduce the cost of providing services, making it possible to reach more people, and reducing the need for face-to-face interactions, essential for keeping up economic activity during the pandemic.
view the World Bank The Global Covid-19 FinTech Market Rapid Assessment Study report
Source: World Bank
BlackRock Survey Shows Acceleration of Sustainable Investing
December 3, 2020--Investors representing US$25 trillion in assets plan to double ESG assets in five years
Climate-related risks are the top sustainability portfolio concern for 88% of respondents
Concerns about quality of sustainable data are the biggest barrier to adoption
Global health and economic challenges this year have not slowed investor demand and outlook for sustainable investing, according to BlackRock's Global Client Sustainable Investing Survey. In fact, investors plan to double their allocations to sustainable products over the next five years, and 20% said that the pandemic would actually accelerate their sustainable investing allocations.
Source: Blackrock
OPEC and Russia Reach Deal to Raise Oil Production
December 3, 2020--Oil producers in the OPEC Plus group reached a compromise on a modest production increase, but the talks revealed strains in the group.
OPEC and other oil-producing nations led by Russia, trying to gauge the strength of the global economy as the coronavirus continues to rage but with vaccines on the horizon, reached a compromise on Thursday to modestly increase production in January.
But the talks revealed strains in the unwieldy group, known as OPEC Plus, which has tried to manage the oil market since 2016. These tensions could make it more difficult for the producers to stay in line with production targets as the global economy recovers in the coming months.
Source: nytimes.com
How Artificial Intelligence Could Widen the Gap Between Rich and Poor Nations
December 2, 2020--New technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, big data, and networks are expected to revolutionize production processes, but they could also have a major impact on developing economies. The opportunities and potential sources of growth that, for example, the United States and China enjoyed during their early stages of economic development are remarkably different from what Cambodia and Tanzania are facing in today's world.
Our recent staff research finds that new technology risks widening the gap between rich and poor countries by shifting more investment to advanced economies where automation is already established. This could in turn have negative consequences for jobs in developing countries by threatening to replace rather than complement their growing labor force, which has traditionally provided an advantage to less developed economies. To prevent this growing divergence, policymakers in developing economies will need to take actions to raise productivity and improve skills among workers.
Source: IMF
Bitcoin surges to all-time record as 2020 rally powers on
The digital unit touched an all--time peak of $19,864.15, breaking its prior record set nearly three years ago. It was last up 6.1% at $19,306.35.
SOurce: reuters.com
ETFGI reports Active ETFs and ETPs listed globally gather a US$58.69 billion in YTD net inflows and assets reached a record high of US$234.86 billion at the end of October 2020
Assets invested in actively managed ETFs/ETPs finished the month up to 2.8%, from US$228.41 billion at the end of September to reach a new record high of US$234.86 billion, according to ETFGI's October 2020 Active ETF and ETP industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Source: ETFGI
How a Collective Infrastructure Push Will Boost Global Growth
An IMF report published ahead of the G20 leaders meeting argues that a synchronized infrastructure investment push could invigorate growth, limit scarring, and address climate goals. In fact, when many countries act at the same time, public infrastructure investment could help lift growth domestically and abroad through trade linkages. This positive "spillover" effect could provide an additional boost to global output.
Source: IMF
IMF Departmental Papers-"Low for Long" and Risk-Taking
Arguably, however, the policies implemented are efficient because they encourage increased risk-taking, and they may have, if unintentionally, increase medium-and long-run macro-financial vulnerabilities. This paper argues that the resulting trade-offs need to be carefully accounted for in monetary policy models and outlines how that can be achieved in practice. view the
Source: IMF
Who on Earth Can Work from Home? A global comparison sheds light on the importance of ICT infrastructure
The overall labor market burden of COVID-19 is bound to be larger in poor countries, where only a small share of workers can work from home and social protection systems are weaker.
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to inflict severe pain in labor markets across the globe, and policy makers will need to target support to workers who are hit hardest. To inform such efforts, a recent working paper Who on Earth Can Work from Home presents an estimate of jobs that can be done from home across the globe. What’s new is the emphasis on access to the internet, which has become even more critical during the pandemic.
Source: World Bank
IMF: The economics of lockdown
One enduring lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that any lasting economic recovery will depend on resolving the health crisis.
Our research in the latest World Economic Outlook shows that government lockdowns-while succeeding in their intended goal of lowering infections-contributed considerably to the recession and had disproportional effects on vulnerable groups, such as women and young people. But the recession was also largely driven by people voluntarily refraining from social interactions as they feared contracting the virus. Therefore, lifting lockdowns is unlikely to lead to a decisive and sustained economic boost if infections are still elevated, as voluntary social distancing will likely persist.
Source: IMF
November 30, 2020-- Bitcoin soared to a record high against the dollar on Monday, as its 2020 rally steamed ahead, boosted by increased demand from both institutional and retail investors that saw the virtual currency as a safe-haven and a hedge against inflation.
November 25, 2020--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that actively managed ETFs and ETPs saw net inflows of US$7.28 billion during October, bringing year-to-date net inflows to a record level US$58.69 billion which is significantly more than the US$34.85 billion in net inflows gathered at this point in 2019 as well as significantly more than the US$42.10 billion gathered in all of 2019.
Assets invested in actively managed ETFs/ETPs reached a new record high of $234.86 billion at the end of October.
Year-to-date net inflows are a record level of $58.69 billion
Fixed Income based actively managed ETFs/ETPs gathered net inflows of $3.99 billion during October.
November 24, 2020--With vaccines around the corner, there is increased hope that the pandemic could soon be under better control. That said, the need for cooperative efforts to work toward a better future has never been greater. Priority areas relate to the need to produce and distribute vaccines globally, tackle climate change, and bolster the economic recovery from the crisis.
November 24, 2020--Summary:
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing an unprecedented worldwide economic contraction, leading central banks to reduce interest rates to historically low levels and making unconventional monetary policies-including "low for long" interest rates and asset purchases-increasingly common.
October 22, 2020--STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A new estimate of the share of jobs that can be performed from home takes into account access to the internet, and finds that globally, one in every 5 jobs can be done from home-but in low-income countries, it's only one in every 26 jobs.
Given the variation across the globe or within countries, policies to address negative labor market impacts of COVID-19 need to be well-targeted and tailored to local conditions.
October 21, 2020--Government lockdowns are contributing considerably to the recession, according to new research by the IMF in their latest World Economic Outlook.
Vulnerable groups, such as women and young people, are particularly affected.
Voluntary isolation is also a contributor to economic adversity, meaning lifting lockdowns is unlikely to result in a decisive and sustained economic boost.
Until the health crisis is resolved, the economic crisis cannot be.
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