Global ETF News Older than One Year
Bassanese Bites-Wage Worry
September 10, 2018--Week in Review
Global equities were on the defensive last week reflecting rising trade tensions and a higher than expected US wage outcome. Contrary to hopes, no US-Canada trade deal was announced and instead Trump ratcheted up the trade angst by threatening more tariffs on China and hinting his next focus could be Japan.
Meanwhile, US payrolls on Friday revealed that annual growth in average hourly earnings hit 2.9%, contrary to a market expectation that it would remain steady at 2.7%. As seen in the chart below, annual growth in average earnings has displayed a volatile sawtooth pattern around a broadly steady trend in recent years, but it’s now again testing the top end of this range and a breakout (similar to that last evident in late 2015) could now be at hand.
Source: BetaShares
Fidelity raises stakes in price war
September 9, 2018--A shockwave hit the investment industry in August when asset manager Fidelity launched the first US zero-fee index-tracking mutual funds.
It was a daring effort to seize the initiative in an escalating price war. view more
Source: FT.com
BlackRock to expand its private investment activities
September 9, 2018--BlackRock plans to ramp up its private investment activities, concerned that the US stock market is being shrunk by the surge in buybacks.
Source: FT.com
How Mifid II is reshaping the trading landscape
September 9, 2018--Companies are facing challenges over transparency around liquidity and best execution.
Source: FT.com
Trade war fears spook mutual fund investors
September 8, 2018-- Investment industry heads for one of its worst years since the financial crisis.
Source: FT.com
The World Federation of Exchanges calls for global reform of Leverage Ratio
September 7, 2018--The World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE"), the global industry group for CCPs and exchanges, has today published its response to the four global standard-setting boards assessing the effectiveness of incentives to centrally clear over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
The WFE calls for prompt and concerted action internationally to address issues confirmed in the August 2018 consultation paper from 'the Committees': the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
Source: World Federation of Exchanges ("WFE")
DECPG Global Weekly
September 7, 2018--U.S. trade deficit widened in July; non-farm job growth rebounded, and manufacturing PMI improved in August
Euro Area GDP growth was confirmed at 0.4 percent in 18Q2; composite PMI edged up in August
Activity in Japan's services sector accelerated in August
China's Caxin PMIs weakened in August
EMDE financial markets remained under pressure
Source: World Bank
Global Trading Activity in August Solidly Outpaced the Prior-year Period
September 7, 2018--Despite the seasonal summer slowdown, global trading activity in August continued to outpace the prior-year period. Average daily volume (ADV) for Tradeweb Markets of $496 billion (bn)-across rates, credit, money markets and equities-in August 2018 increased 38.0 percent (%) year over year (YoY).
Derivatives volumes continued to grow at an accelerated rate. Tradeweb's ADV in rates derivatives rose 199.0% YoY. Growth has been driven by both greater market share of SEF interest rates swap volumes as well as continued volume growth on the MTF.
Source: Tradeweb
World Gold Council-Outflows in gold-backed ETFs continued in August
September 6, 2018--Holdings in global gold-backed ETFs and similar products fell by 40t to 2,353t in August-the third consecutive month-pushing assets under management (US$ AUM) down 3% relative to July
Funds listed in China had net gains as investors hedged trade risks and currency weakness. Flows in Europe were mostly flat. Global outflows were led by North American funds which lost US$1.65bn
Source: World Gold Council (WGC)
Monday Morning Memo: Is it only about fees and expenses in the funds industry?
September 3, 2018--Fees and expenses in the mutual funds industry are a hot topic for investors and market observers around the world. In some cases discussions are going so far that one could get the impression that fees and expenses are the only criteria an investor should use when selecting a mutual fund or ETF.
These discussions have recently been fueled by media coverage of the launches of some low-cost funds by large asset management groups.
Fees and expenses, especially for actively managed funds, have been under scrutiny for a while, since a large number of actively managed funds have not beaten their benchmarks. The fact that there is no guarantee that even the best fund manager will be able to deliver future outperformance makes the selection of an actively managed fund a bet against the market. In the best case the investor will be rewarded with outperformance. Therefore, it is key for the investor to balance the odds right.
Source: Detlef Glow, Thomson Reuters
