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Vanguard 'green' fund invests in oil and gas-related stocks
July 10, 2019--SEC commissioner complains investors are being 'misled' by marketing materials.
A $500m exchange-traded fund run by Vanguard that claims to 'specifically exclude' fossil fuel stocks invests in a host of companies in the oil and gas industry,
amplifying concerns that investors could be misled by socially and environmentally focused products.
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Source: FT.com
CBO-Monthly Budget Review for June 2019
July 8, 2019--The federal budget deficit was $746 billion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2019, CBO estimates, $139 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last year.
Revenues were $69 billion higher and outlays were $208 billion higher than during first nine months of 2018.
Total Receipts: Up by 3 Percent in the First Nine Months of Fiscal Year 2019
Receipts totaled $2,609 billion during the first nine months of fiscal year 2019, CBO estimates-$69 billion (or 3 percent) more than during the same period last year. That increase was the result of changes in receipts from the following sources:
Individual income and payroll (social insurance) taxes together rose by $60 billion (or 3 percent).
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Source: Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
SoFi Introduces Stock Bits: Fractional Share Buying Made Easy
July 8, 2019--Fractional Shares Added to Mobile-First Robo, No-Fee Brokerage SoFi Invest
SoFi today announced the general availability of its Stock Bits feature for SoFi Invest, offering the ability to buy and sell fractional shares with as little as $1 in over 50 popular stocks and ETFs ranging from Apple and Amazon, to Alphabet and Tesla*.
Designed with those new to investing in mind, the SoFi Invest platform offers industry-leading benefits, no fees, and a seamless mobile-first interface.
"People are told to 'buy what they like', but when what they like costs over $100 or $1,000 per share, first-time investors are priced out," said Anthony Noto, CEO at SoFi. "Investing is a financial requirement for achieving financial independence, and it is our focus to remove the barriers to getting started by providing features like Stock Bits for SoFi Invest."
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Source: SoFi
NYSE Gets New Cannabis ETF With Unique Characteristics
July 8, 2019--The New York Stock Exchange is getting a new cannabis-focused ETF: The Cannabis ETF (NYSE:THCX).
With a name as great as its ticker, the Cannabis ETF will focus on companies in the legal marijuana, CBD, and hemp industries.
This passively managed pure-play ETF was launched by Innovation Shares, a sponsor of unique thematic exchange traded funds, and will trade on the NYSE Arca, formerly known as ArcaEx.
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Source: Forbeas
SEC and FINRA-Joint Staff Statement on Broker-Dealer Custody of Digital Asset Securities
July 8, 2019--Market participants have raised questions concerning the application of the federal securities laws and the rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") to the potential intermediation-including custody-of digital asset securities[1] and transactions.
In this statement, the staffs of the Division of Trading and Markets (the "Division") and FINRA (collectively, the "Staffs")-drawing upon key principles from their historic approach to broker-dealer regulation and investor protection—have articulated various considerations relevant to many of these questions, particularly under the SEC's Customer Protection Rule applicable to SEC-registered broker-dealers.[2]
As a threshold matter, it should be recognized by market participants that the application of the federal securities laws, FINRA rules and other bodies of laws to digital assets, digital asset securities and related innovative technologies raise novel and complex regulatory and compliance questions and challenges.
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Source: sec.gov
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
July 8, 2019--The current reports for the week of July 2, 2019 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
FTSE Russell launches first climate risk government bond index1
July 8, 2019--FTSE Climate Risk-Adjusted World Government Bond Index allows sovereign debt investors to incorporate climate change risk considerations
into their portfolios
First time that a quantitative measure of climate risk has been applied to
sovereign debt
Countries are weighted in the index according to their "Climate Score"-the higher the index weight, the lower the Climate Risk exposure
Index utilises climate risk modelling developed by Beyond Ratings,
respected ESG analytics provider recently acquired by LSEG
FTSE Russell, the global index, data and analytics provider, has launched the first government bond index to
adjust index weights based on each country's preparedness and resilience to climate change risk. The FTSE
Climate Risk-Adjusted World Government Bond Index ("Climate WGBI") is derived from the FTSE World
Government Bond Index, a widely used benchmark of investment-grade sovereign bonds of 22 developed
economies.
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Source: FTSE Russell
Vanguard hits back at Fidelity's loss-eader strategy by courting higher-margin businesses, like China and private equity, and axing low-margin ones like annuities--Wealth management franchises are next
July 8, 2019--The zero-fee scourge of index funds awakened the sleeping Malvern, Pa.-based giant from its predictable destiny and now CEO Tim Buckley is unapologetically showing a willingness to cut losses and seek risk
The Fidelity CEO's ability to pay for zero-fee funds with higher-margin businesses showed it still had cards to play in a game where the Vanguard CEO perennial ace is not to seek much in the way of profits at all. In other words, Fidelity's strategy is finding new ways to take on Vanguard's, not-for-profit mutual-style tactics.
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Source: riabiz.com
Lipper U.S. Weekly FundFlows Insight Report: Funds Take in Net New Money for the Fourth Straight Week
July 6, 2019--Lipper's fund asset groups (including both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds) had net positive flows of $10.0 billion for the fund-flows trading week ended Wednesday, July 3.
Money market funds (+$26.6 billion) drove the weekly net inflows, while taxable bond funds (+$2.0 billion) and municipal debt funds (+$1.2 billion) also contributed to the total net inflows. Equity funds were the only asset group to suffer net outflows for the week, as they saw $19.8 billion leave their coffers.
ETFs
The ETF universe had net outflows of $9.8 billion last week, as equity ETFs (+$9.9 billion) were responsible for all of the net negative flows. The lion's share of the net outflows for equity products came from iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV, -$6.7 billion), Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ, -$2.7 billion), and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY, -$1.6 billion). Muni debt (+$103 million) and taxable bond ETFs (+$16 million) both took in relatively small amounts of net new money for the week.
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Source: Refinitiv
BlackRock(R) Canada Announces Change in Index of the iShares S&P Global Consumer Discretionary Index ETF (CAD-Hedged)
July 3, 2019--BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock) today announces that effective on or about September 23, 2019, the index that the iShares S&P Global Consumer Discretionary Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) (the "iShares ETF") seeks to replicate will change as follows:
Current Index: S&P Global 1200 Consumer Discretionary Canadian Dollar Hedged Index
New Index: S&P Global 1200 Consumer Discretionary (Sector) Capped CAD Hedged Index
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Source: BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited
