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Standard & Poor’s decides 2010 weights for S&P GSCI
November 4, 2009--Standard & Poor’s has published the composition and weights for the 2010 S&P GSCI.
The S&P GSCI is a world production-weighted commodity index which, in 2010, will be composed of 24 liquid, exchange-traded futures contracts.
The S&P GSCI includes energy, industrial metals, precious metals, agricultural and livestock products.
The weights become effective with the January roll period.
Hedge Funds Face Investor War on Fees
November 4, 2009--Institutional investors are going to gang up on "arrogant" hedge funds, a pension fund chairman warned, as investors increasingly press for changes that would link lucrative fees more closely to genuine outperformance.
A key complaint of investors has been that while many of them lost money during the financial crisis, hedge fund managers were still able to rake in millions of dollars in fees. Last year, average hedge fund returns were a minus 19 percent.
"If they want money from us they will have to offer ... alignment of interests. If hedge funds remain arrogant and not humble, I think money will go elsewhere," Philip Read, chairman of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, said on Tuesday.
RiskMetrics confirms KLD buy-out
Combined firm is biggest global ESG research house.
November 4, 2009--RiskMetrics Group, the New York-listed US risk management and corporate governance group, has confirmed a $10m acquisition of Boston-based KLD Research & Analytics, the ESG research house. The planned buyout was first reported in Responsible-Investor.com on October 13. The
The companies have not disclosed whether the deal will have any impact on staffing. RiskMetrics said the combination of the two firms would deliver increased ESG coverage, including more robust data, expert insights, and user-friendly tools.
Knut Kjaer, president of RiskMetrics Group, said: “Our clients have indicated that ESG performance is a critical benchmark of a corporation’s risks and long-term value. KLD’s ESG capabilities, combined with our financial risk and corporate governance experience, will give investors worldwide a more thorough picture of sustainability and risk across geographic and industry boundaries.” The KLD acquisition is RiskMetrics’ second major buyout this year in the ESG (environmental, social and governance) space after it bought Innovest, the SRI research house in February.
Investors and stock exchanges discuss ESG listings ‘comply or explain’ at UN headquarters
UNCTAD backs PRI calls for ESG exchange disclosure.
November 4, 2009--UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon, this week kicked off a high-level meeting at the UN headquarters in New York between major institutional investors including the Norwegian Global Pension Fund and France’s national pensions reserve fund (FRR) and global stock exchange executives in New York to look at ways of tightening up environmental, social and governance criteria for company listings.
Among discussion topics at the UNPRI-organised event, was the introduction of a ‘comply or explain’ requirement for companies to put an annual sustainability report to a shareholder vote at their annual general meetings.
Some countries already oblige companies to include a description of their corporate responsibility activities and practices in their Annual Reports or, if there are none, a make statement to this effect.
Speakers at the UN event included Serge Harry, executive vice president and deputy head of strategy at NYSE Euronext, Paul Abberley, chief executive at Aviva Investors and Peter Clifford of the World Federation of Stock Exchanges.
Abberley said he hoped the event would be “catalytic” in promoting more sustainable business behaviour. Aviva called last year for a debate on how listing authorities could promote corporate transparency.
Semi-Annual Changes to the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index
October 4, 2009--On Monday, November 2nd, NASDAQ OMX and CRD Analytics, LLC announced the results of the semi-annual evaluation of the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index (QCRD).
CRD Analytics screens more than 3,000 global corporations across all sectors for over 200 financial and ESG performance metrics to rank the companies in the index. "This larger universe led to an almost 50% turnover in the top 50 leaders, attributable to better disclosure from firms adopting the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines and the increase in asset managers and owners signing the U.N. Principles for Responsible Investing," said Michael Muyot, CRD Analytics President.
QCRD is an equally weighted equity index that serves as a benchmark for stocks of companies that are taking a leadership role in sustainability performance reporting and are traded on a major U.S. stock exchange.
"This Index ensures that investors can track a relevant benchmark that is comprised of high performing companies that are committed to environmental, social and governance issues," said John Jacobs, NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President.
The Index is comprised of companies that comprehensively disclose their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, employee safety, workforce diversity, management composition and community investing. Securities of component companies must also meet other eligibility criteria, including minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume and price.
For more information on the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index, including a list of companies in the Index, please contact Rob Hughes at +1 212 401 8987 or Robert.hughes@nasdaqomx.com.
CME Group Volume Averaged 10.8 Million Contracts per Day in October 2009, Up 2 Percent from September 2009
Highest first month of a quarter volume to date in 2009
- Double-digit year-over-year growth in FX, energy and metals
- Highest monthly energy and metals volumes to date in 2009
- Record non-roll month average daily notional value traded in FX of $99 billion
- Best year-over-year performance to date in 2009 for interest rates
November 3, 2009--CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that October volume averaged 10.8 million contracts per day, down 13 percent from October 2008, but up 2 percent from September 2009. Total volume was 237 million contracts for October, of which 82 percent was traded electronically, and represented the highest first month of a quarter volume to date in 2009.
Electronic volume averaged 8.9 million contracts per day, down 11 percent from the prior October, but up 3 percent compared with September 2009. Average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 559,000 contracts for October 2009, up 16 percent compared with October 2008, and up 14 percent sequentially. CME Group year-to-date volume through October averaged 10.3 million contracts per day.
In October, CME Group interest rate volume demonstrated the best year-over-year growth so far in 2009, averaging 4.5 million contracts per day, down only 2 percent compared with October 2008, but up 2 percent compared with the prior month. Eurodollar futures volume averaged 1.8 million contracts per day, up 4 percent versus October 2008, and Treasury futures volume averaged 1.8 million contracts per day, up 12 percent compared with the same period a year ago. CME Group equity index volume averaged 2.8 million contracts per day, down 43 percent compared with October 2008. CME Group foreign exchange (FX) volume experienced its highest non-roll month to date in 2009, up 33 percent compared with the prior October to average 747,000 contracts per day, reflecting average daily notional value of approximately $99 billion, a record for a non-roll month.
Gold steadies $1,040/oz, ETF holdings dip 0.915 T
November 1, 2009--Gold prices steadied above $1,040 per ounce on Monday, with its upside capped by a firmer dollar, which reduces the precious metal's allure as an alternative asset.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was almost flat at $1,044.35 per ounce at 0003 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $1,044.40.
* It hit a three-week low of $1,025.75 last week.
ETF Landscape: Industry Review, end of Q3 2009
November 2, 2009--Highlights
Current ETF and ETP Landscape, as at end Q3 2009
Global ETF assets have hit an all time high of US$933 Bn at the end of Q3 2009 – 4.8% above the previous all time high of US$891 Bn set in August 2009.
At the end of Q3 2009 the Global ETF industry had 1,819 ETFs .with 3,247 listings, assets of $933.49 Bn, from 96 providers on 40
exchanges around the world.
YTD assets have risen by 31.3% which is more than the 22.5% rise in the MSCI World index in US dollar terms.
YTD the number of ETFs increased by 14.3% with 295 new ETFs launched, while 72 ETFs were closed.
.In 2009 the number of ETFs listed in Europe has surpassed the US launched. with 783 ETFs listed in Europe, compared to 721 in the US.
There are currently plans to launch 811 new ETFs.
YTD the number of exchanges with official listings decreased by three to 40.
YTD the average daily trading volume in US dollars decreased by 21.8% to US$63.0 Bn.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) ranks first in terms of ETF AUM tied to their benchmarks with assets of US$220.83 Bn and 227 ETFs, while MSCI ranks second with US$214.80 Bn and 262 ETFs, followed by Barclays Capital in third with US$77.64 Bn and 62 ETFs.
Globally, iShares is the largest ETF provider in terms of both number of products, 403 ETFs, and assets of US$451.87 Bn, reflecting 48.4% market share; State Street Global Advisors is second with 106 products and US$138.32 Bn, 14.8% market share; followed by Vanguard with 40 products and assets of US$77.15 Bn and 8.3% market share at the end of Q3 2009
Globally, net sales of mutual funds (excluding ETFs) were US$155.2 Bn, while net sales of ETFs were US$76.8 Bn during the first eight months of 2009 according to Strategic Insight.
Over the five year market cycle from mid-year 2004 to mid-year 2009, S&P 500 outperformed 63.0% of actively managed large-cap funds, S&P MidCap 400 outperformed 73.5% of mid-cap funds and S&P SmallCap 600 outperformed 67.7% of small-cap funds. The script was similar for non-US equity funds, in which indices outperformed a majority of actively managed non-US equity funds over the past five years.1
Additionally, there were 568 other Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) with assets of US$105.87 Bn from 39 providers on 19 exchanges.
Combined, there were 2,387 products with 4,083 listings, assets of US$1,039.35 Bn from 122 providers on 43 exchanges around the world at the end of Q3 2009.
Semi-Annual Changes to the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index
November 2, 2009--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
(Nasdaq:NDAQ) and CRD Analytics, LLC announced today the results of the
semi-annual evaluation of the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50
Index (Nasdaq:QCRD), which will become effective with the market open
on Monday, November 2, 2009.
The following 23 securities will be added to the Index: Barrick Gold
Corp. (NYSE:ABX), AXA (NYSE:AXA), Astrazeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN), BHP
Billiton PLC (NYSE:BHP), The Bank Of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS), British
Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (NYSE:BSY), BT Group PLC (NYSE:BT), Credit
Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB), Reed Elsevier
PLC (NYSE:ENL), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE:GSK), Johnson Controls, Inc.
(NYSE:JCI), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Merck & Company, Inc.
(NYSE:MRK), Potash Corp. Of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE:POT), Praxair, Inc.
(NYSE:PX), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE:RDS.A), The Royal Bank Of Canada
(NYSE:RY), SAP AG (NYSE:SAP), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), Banco Santander SA
(NYSE:STD), Telefonica SA (NYSE:TEF), and Unilever PLC (NYSE:UL).
As a result of the evaluation, the following securities will be removed from the Index: Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A), Companhia de Bebidas das Americas - AmBev (NYSE:ABV), Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL), The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL), Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT), BHP Billiton plc (NYSE:BBL), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO), Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ), ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq:MSFT), Oracle Corporation (Nasdaq:ORCL), ProLogis (NYSE:PLD), Schlumberger N.V. (NYSE:SLB), Total, S.A. (NYSE:TOT), and UBS AG (NYSE:UBS).
The NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index is an equally weighted equity index that serves as a benchmark for stocks of companies that are taking a leadership role in sustainability performance reporting and are traded on a major US stock exchange. The Index is comprised of companies that are most comprehensively disclosing their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, employee safety, workforce diversity, management composition and community investing. These are companies that are voluntarily disclosing their current environmental, social and governance risks as well as their revenue opportunities and how it will affect future performance. Securities of component companies must also meet other eligibility criteria, including minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume, and price. The Index components are evaluated on a semi-annual basis in the beginning of May and November. To access more information about the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index, including a list of companies in the Index and detailed eligibility criteria, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/data.aspx?IndexSymbol=QCRD&menuIndex=0.
"This development ensures that investors can track a relevant benchmark that is comprised of high performing companies that are committed to environmental, social and governance issues," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "With the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index, CRD Analytics and NASDAQ OMX are leading the push towards sustainable investing."
"The reconstitution of the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index comes at a critical and pivotal point in the Investment environment," said Michael Muyot, CRD Analytics President. "CRD analytics now screens over 3,000 global corporations across all sectors for over 200 financial and ESG performance metrics. This larger universe led to an almost 50% turnover in the top 50 leaders, attributable to better disclosure from firms adopting the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines and the increase in asset managers and owners signing the U.N. Principles for Responsible Investing."
"It has become very competitive to stay within the top 50," Muyot
added. "Those companies that publicly disclose before September 30th
with real quantitative information are better positioned for
sustainable, risk-adjusted performance. Companies with higher
sustainability scores using a rule-based methodology make them more
attractive to the investment community that is increasingly looking for
better investment analysis of risks and opportunities."
Average Daily Volume of 10.4 Million Contracts at Eurex and ISE in October
November 2, 2009--At the international derivatives markets of Eurex, an average daily volume of 10.4 million contracts was traded in October 2009; y-o-y the figure was 14.3 million due to the turbulence of the financial crisis. This year’s figure splits into 6.4 million contracts traded at Eurex (Oct 2008: 9.9 million) and 4.0 million contracts were traded at the International Securities Exchange (ISE) (Oct 2008: 4.4 million). In October, a total of 228.8 million contracts were traded on both exchanges, thereof Eurex with 141.6 million and ISE with 87.2 million, compared with 226.6 million contracts at Eurex and 102.0 million at ISE y-o-y.
At Eurex, the equity index derivatives segment recorded the highest turnover, totaling 67.4 million contracts (Oct 2008: 140.0 million). Thereof, 27.3 million contracts were traded in the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50® index future and 25.7 million contracts in the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 index option. The DAX® index future and option saw a combined volume of 12.5 million contracts. Trading volume in equity derivatives (equity options and single stock futures) accounted for 29.9 million contracts compared with 34.1 million in October 2008. The segment dividend futures continued to grow and totaled more than 310,000 contracts.
The interest rate derivatives segment reached 44.0 million contracts (Oct 2008: 52.5 million). The Euro Bund Future totaled 17.4 million contracts, the Euro Bobl Future 9.7 million contracts and the Euro Schatz Future 11.1 million contracts. The new Euro BTP future – launched on 14 September – reached already more than 97,000 contracts.
Eurex Repo, which operates CHF- and EUR repo markets, recorded an average outstanding volume of €150.0 billion (Oct 2008: €159.1 billion). The secured money market segment GC Pooling continued to grow with a rate of 47 percent y-o-y, average outstanding volume reached €75.4 billion (Oct 2008: €51.2 billion). The whole EUR Repo segment grew by 26 percent and totaled €103.0 billion (Oct 2008: €81.6 billion).
The electronic trading platform Eurex Bonds, which rounds out Eurex’s fixed-income product range, saw a volume of €7.0 billion (single counted) in October, compared with €8.1 billion in October last year and €6.5 billion in September 2009.
