WTO issues new report on how COVID-19 crisis may push up trade costs
August 13, 2020--The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note warning of possible increases to trade costs due to COVID-19 disruptions. The note examines the pandemic's impact on key components of trade costs, particularly those relating to travel and transport, trade policy, uncertainty, and identifies areas where higher costs may persist even after the pandemic is contained.
The note estimates that travel and transport costs account for as much as a third of trade costs depending on the sector. Pandemic-related travel restrictions are therefore likely to affect trade costs for as long as they remain in place. For example, global air cargo capacity shrank by 24.6 per cent in March 2020, as passenger flights account for around half of air cargo volumes.
Source: wto.org
Rampant bitcoin gives crypto hedge funds a big lift
August 13, 2020--Digital currency funds were up more than 50% from January to July, according to Eurekahedge.
Source: FT.com
China squeezes diversification out of MSCI's EM equities nest
August 12, 2020--Three countries in Asia now account for almost two-thirds of MSCI benchmark.
Source: FT.com
Active tech, healthcare and ESG funds outpace passives
Active technology, healthcare and ecology funds have been am...view more
Source: FT.com
Bloomberg Launches Proprietary ESG Scores
"ESG data is critical to the investment process. We see an opportunity to provide transparent and complete scoring methodologies along with the underlying data in order to support investment and finance professionals make informed decisions," said Patricia Torres, Global Head of Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Solutions. "By providing transparent ESG data and scores, we are helping investors decode raw data that is otherwise hard to compare across companies. For corporates, these scores offer a valuable, quantitative and normalized benchmark that will easily highlight their ESG performance."
Source: Bloomberg
IOSCO examines the evolution of liquidity provision in equity securities markets
Liquidity provision in equity securities markets plays a vital role in price discovery, thereby helping markets to function efficiently. This report, based on a survey of regulatory authorities, trading venues and market intermediaries, considers how liquidity provision has evolved in equity securities markets. view the IOSCO Liquidity Provision in the Secondary Markets for Equity Securities report
Source: Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
Shift to Electronic Bond Trading Is a Tailwind for MarketAxess
JPMorgan said the data indicates a dramatic shift in the way the entire bond market trades, not just Treasurys. The investment bank added that while we may see a decrease in electronic trading as money managers return to their offices, the electronic-trading trend is here to stay.
Source: stansberryresearch.com
Aging Economies May Benefit Less from Fiscal Stimulus
Our new staff research finds that age also matters when considering fiscal stimulus. Specifically, we find that fiscal policy isn't as effective in boosting growth in economies with older populations, compared to economies with younger populations.
Source: IMF
From the Fed to the Middle East: ESG investors set sights on fixing inequality
Fintech and the Fed: keys to fixing racial inequality?
Fintech has been a hot topic for impact investors in the last year, particularly in Silicon Valley. No wonder: the beauty of fintech is that it can offer financial services to underserved or excluded parts of the population-such as women in emerging markets-while also promoting innovation.
Another potential opportunity for fintech: helping American black-owned businesses. Especially given that the attrition rate among black-owned businesses during the pandemic has been twice as high as that among white-owned ones, according to a fascinating paper that the New York Federal Reserve published this week.
Source: technocodex.com
ETF joins world's biggest gold owners as investors flock in
SPDR Gold Shares, an ETF that owns physical bullion rather than just financial derivatives, has hoovered up gold this year as investors seeking price gains or a haven asset channel more money into the fund.
The size of the fund's holdings-which are held in HSBC's London vaults- has climbed to 1,258 tonnes
Source: FT.com
August 11, 2020--Actively managed funds have been outpacing passives in hot-ticket equity sectors as investors seek exposure to the economic megatrends that have been accentuated by the Covid-19 crisis.
August 11, 2020--Scores will provide transparent, data driven insights into company performance
Bloomberg today announced the launch of propriety ESG scores. This initial offering includes Environmental and Social (ES) scores for 252 companies in the Oil & Gas sector, and Board Composition scores for more than 4,300 companies across multiple industries.
August 11, 2020--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today published a report that explores how liquidity provision has evolved in equity securities markets in recent years. The report, titled Liquidity Provision in the Secondary Markets for Equity Securities, identifies some of the key elements of market making programs that may help promote the provision of liquidity, strengthen investor confidence and foster fair and efficient markets.
August 10, 2020--The bond market continues to shift towards electronic trading...
JPMorgan Chase's bond-trading data showed that 77% of Treasury bond trades were conducted electronically in June, up from about 70% in March, according to a report from the Financial Times. That's well above the average of about 50% over the past two years.
August 7, 2020--In the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers around the world are undertaking fiscal stimulus-a combination of spending increases and tax reductions-to support their economies. Even before the present crisis, the importance of fiscal policy has been increasing, with monetary policy constrained by near-zero interest rates.
August 7, 2020-A new social justice mandate for the Fed?
ESG investors focus on Middle East
British supermodel Lily Cole on climate and sustainable fashion
A largely unnoticed EU plastic tax could create big headaches for member states
August 5, 2020--An exchange traded fund has become one of the world's biggest owners of gold, surpassing even the central banks of Japan and India, as investors have scrambled to buy the precious metal and pushed it to record highs.
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