Global ETF News Older than One Year
Researchers Bring Atomic Clock Timestamp Precision To Stock Market Trading Over Distributed Ledgers
August 24, 2017--In a move that could aid MiFID II compliance, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX) and the UK's National Physical Laboratory have carried out an experiment which saw atomic clocks used to timestamp trades which were then recorded directly on a distributed ledger.
The 'Atomic Ledger' project recorded over 20 million transactions from three hours of trading to the ChainZy distributed ledger system from vendor Z/Yen.
The experiment is being linked to MiFID II legislation slated to arrive in January, which mandates more accurate timestamping traceable to Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) to promote improved transparency and better deals for customers.
Source: finextra.com
ETFGI reports assets invested in active ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new record of US$59 billion at the end of July 2017
August 23, 2017--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, today reported assets invested in active ETFs/ETPs listed globally reached a new record of US$59 billion at the end of July 2017, according to data from ETFGI's July 2017 global active ETF and ETP industry insights report.
Record levels of assets were reached at the end of July for active ETFs/ETPs listed globally with US$59.40 Bn, US$38.33 Bn in the United States, US$9.23 Bn in Canada, US$7.91 Bn in Europe and US$3.84 Bn in Asia Pacific (ex-Japan).
Source: ETFGI
Global Economies Grow in Sync-Low interest rates help spur a rare expansion in all 45 countries tracked by the OECD
August 23, 2017--For the first time in a decade, the world's major economies are growing in sync' a result of lingering low-interest-rate stimulus from central banks and the gradual fading of crises that over years ricocheted from the U.S. to Greece, Brazil and beyond.
All 45 countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are on track to grow this year, and 33 of them are poised to accelerate from a year ago, according to the OECD. It is the first time since 2007 that all are growing and the most countries...
Source: Wall Street Journal
GoldMint Custody Bot Will Automate Putting Gold on Blockchain
August 22, 2017--Gold is thought to be the only real money by many. It has been a time-tested hedge against inflation and a store of value.
A large problem for gold investors though has been the storage, transmission and trading of the precious metal.
Harnessing the power of the Blockchain now makes it possible to replicate the reliability of gold but take it to the next level.
Source: cointelegraph.com
World Economic Forum-Big Tech, Not Fintech, Causing Greatest Disruption to Banking and Insurance Markets
August 22, 2017--Fintech start-ups have fallen short of their ambitions to upend the competitive landscape in finance, driving innovation but failing to capture large market share, a new World Economic Forum report finds.
The competitive landscape in banking and insurance is being shaped increasingly by large technology firms supplying critical technology to the sector, opening the door to direct competition at a later stage
Meanwhile, regulatory approaches to financial innovation are diverging in the US, Europe and Asia, potentially jeopardizing the likelihood of a concerted global response in a future financial crisis.
Financial institutions' drive to become more "experience-driven" is opening the door to potential competition from global technology giants, according to a report published today by the World Economic Forum.
view the Beyond Fintech: A Pragmatic Assessment Of Disruptive Potential In Financial Services report
Source: WEF (World Economic Forum)
BIS Working paper-The Distance Effect in Banking and Trade
August 21, 2017--The empirical gravity literature finds geographical distance to be a large and growing obstacle to trade, contradicting the popular notion that globalization heralds "the end of geography". This distance puzzle disappears, however, when measuring the effect of cross-border distance relative to that of domestic distance (Yotov, 2012).
We uncover the same result for banking when comparing cross-border positions with domestic credit, using the most extensive dataset on global bank linkages between countries. The role of distance remains substantial for trade as well as for banking where transport cost is immaterial- pointing to the role of information frictions as a common driver. A second contribution is to show that the forces of globalization are also evident in other, less prominent, parts of the gravity framework.
view the BIS Working paper-The Distance Effect in Banking and Trade
Source: BIS
Visualizing the Massive $15.7 Trillion Impact of AI
August 21, 2017--For the people most immersed in the tech sector, it's hard to think of a more controversial topic than the ultimate impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society.
By eventually empowering machines with a level of superintelligence, there are many different possible outcomes ranging from Kurzweil's technological singularity to the more dire predictions popularized by Elon Musk.
Source: visualcapitalist.com
Global dividends forecast to hit record $1.2trn in 2017
August 21, 2017--Global dividends hit an all-time quarterly high in the second quarter of this year, with Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland all posting new records, according to Janus Henderson.
The asset manager raised its forecast for 2017 to a record $1.208trn (€1.06trn), up by $50bn since its preliminary forecast in January...
Source: IP&E
ETF Securities Weekly Flows Analysis-Investors sold gold as geopolitical tensions abate
August 21, 2017--Investors reduced gold holdings as geopolitical tensions abate.
President Trump's unclear commitment to pro-growth policies weaken the US dollar.
Oil ETPs saw outflows continue for fifth consecutive week.
Investors take profits on strong year-to -date emerging market local bonds performance.
We saw US$107mn of outflows from our gold ETPs as geopolitical tensions eased. US July retail sales and the Empire Manufacturing Index for August surprised to the upside and resulted in a strengthening of the US dollar and rising US bond yields last week, while putting downward pressures on the gold.
Source: etfsecurities.com
'ETF 20/20': Exchange Traded Fund Monthly Report-August 2017
August 21, 2017--Key Highlights
Our monthly 'ETF 20/20' report briefly summarizes recent Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) trends globally. It uses data from the First Bridge ETF database that includes all global ETPs.
Global ETF assets grew by 3.1% in July 2017 to $4.338T.
FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones made a significant change to the criteria for including new stocks in their widely followed headline indices.
FTSE Russell will require developed market constituents to have greater than 5% of their voting stock in the hands of unrestricted shareholders.
S&P Dow Jones announced that it would no longer include companies with multiple share classes in its S&P 1500 indices (including the S&P 500). Existing S&P 1500 index components are 'grandfathered' in and are not impacted.
In August 2017 the Indian government announced the launch of the 'Bharat 22' ETF. It is the second time the Indian government has used the ETF structure as a divestment mechanism.
There were just over 85 new listings globally in July 2017.
Gold ('GLD') was the best performing of 6 ETFs representing the major asset classes in the trailing 1 month through August 18, 2017.
<>a href="http://firstbridgedata.com/risk_report/ETF_Landscape_August_2017.pdf" TARGET="_blank">view more
Source: First Bridge Data
