Global ETF News Older than One Year
Fears mount over asset managers' shadow banking operations
June 23, 2014--The shrinking banking sector is creating a "major opportunity" for asset managers to step into the lending breach, but concern is mounting over their "shadow bank" operations and rising systemic importance.
The golden era for asset management comes as nearly $5tn in assets worldwide shifts out of investment banks following new US regulation that
Source: FT.com
Central Bank Reserve Managers More Cautious as Fed Tapers
June 23, 2014--Central bank reserve managers across the world are ready to take a more cautious approach to investment as the U.S. Federal Reserve continues to reduce its monetary stimulus, with the full effect of such tapering still to be felt so far as demand for riskier assets is concerned.
An annual survey of reserve managers found that the Fed's decision to wind down its monthly purchase program could have an impact on 60% of central banks in terms of their reserve management.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Expansion Into the Vast World of Commodities
June 23, 2014--From lean hogs to gold, the world of commodities is as vast as the world around us. On July 1, Bloomberg will take control of UBS's leading commodity index, a diversified index that provides investors with exposure to the most widely followed commodities in the world.
The index will be renamed from the "Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index" to the "Bloomberg Commodity Index".
Source: Bloomberg
ETF Securities-Precious Metals Weekly--Silver Leads Precious Metals Price and Volatility Recovery
June 23, 2014--Gold and silver surge as the Fed keeps rates low, against a backdrop of geopolitical
instability. Sparked by a dovish FOMC meeting announcement, precious metals rallied sharply last week, led by the 5.3% gain in silver, with gold posting a 3.1% increase.
Geopolitical issues in Iraq and Russia have added another layer of support helping gold and silver remain above key technical levels of $1,300/oz. and US $20/oz. Gold ended last week with a year-to-date (YTD) gain of 9.1%, ahead of the S&P 500 index YTD gain of 6.2%. Unprecedented global central bank stimulus has depressed volatility across asset markets, including silver, while helping equity indices extend to fresh record highs. Supportive central bank measures has lifted risk appetite and weighed on precious metals sentiment, with silver positioning near record lows. By most historical measures the equity bull market is in an advanced stage, and as the sustainability of the rally is increasingly called into question, prudent investors appear to be diversifying into the precious metals (PMs) to hedge potential tail risks. The S&P 500 passed 578 successive calendar days above the 200dma this Friday. This duration period has been exceeded only 5-times since 1900. The most was 998-days ending on October 22, 1929.
Source: ETF Securities
IMF Working paper-Financial Plumbing and Monetary Policy
June 20, 2014-Summary: This paper focuses on how changes in financial plumbing of the markets may impact the monetary policy options as central banks contemplate lift off from zero lower bound (ZLB).
Under the proposed regulations, banks will face leverage ratio constraints. As a result of quantitative easing (QE), banks want balance sheet "space" for financial intermediation/non-depository activities. At the same time, regulatory changes are boosting demand for high quality liquid assets. The paper also discusses the role of repo markets and the importance of collateral velocity and the need to avoid wedges between repo and monetary policy rates when leaving ZLB.
view the IMF Working paper-Financial Plumbing and Monetary Policy
Source: IMF
WGC-Gold Investor: risk management and capital preservation-Volume 6
June 19, 2014--The sixth edition of Gold Investor discusses gold's role as a liquid alternative to stocks, bonds and cash, and highlights its ability to improve portfolio risk-adjusted returns for investors-even if they hold other alternative assets.
The latest edition (Volume 6, June 2014) includes three articles:
I. How gold improves alternative asset performance
II. Gold: metal by design, currency by nature
III. The most liquid of all 'liquid alts'
view the Gold Investor: risk management and capital preservation-Volume 6
Source: World Gold Council
BlackRock's iShares Canada Chief Wiley Departs Company
June 19, 2014--Mary Anne Wiley left her position as managing director and head of iShares Canada, the exchange-traded funds unit of BlackRock Inc. (BLK), as competitors encroach on the company's leading market share.
Wiley told management earlier this year she planned to leave and departed the company last week, said Maeve Hannigan, a spokeswoman for iShares Canada. Warren Collier, chief operating officer for U.S. iShares, is replacing Wiley as acting head while the firm seeks a successor, Hannigan said in an interview today.
Source:Bloomberg
World Gold Council calls meeting to explore gold fix reform
June 18, 2014--A discussion by gold buyers and sellers across the market on ways to reform or replace London's global price benchmark, known as the "fix", will be held next month by the World Gold Council.
The discussion comes as gold and silver fixes, along with other commodity benchmarks, face increased scrutiny by regulators in Europe and the United States following the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) manipulation case in 2012.
Source: Reuters
Minerals Can Boost Well-being in Developing Countries
June 18, 2014--STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Mineral wealth need not be 'curse', study says.
Well-being improved faster where mining fueled growth.
Appropriate structures must be in place to manage the large revenue inflows in a responsible and transparent manner.
Since 1995, when Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner published their influential study claiming that natural resource abundance has a strong negative impact on growth, the term "resource curse" has been associated with mineral wealth in developing countries.
view The contribution of the mining sector to socioeconomic and human development report
Source: World Bank
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Expands its Passive Distribution Team for U.S. Western Region
June 18, 2014--Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DeAWM) announced today that it has hired four Regional Vice Presidents to support the growth and coverage of its U.S. exchange-traded products (ETP) platform in the Western region.
The team reports to Mick McLaughlin, Head of Passive Distribution in the Americas.
Source: Deutsche Asset & Wealth Managemen
