Global ETF News Older than One Year
Vanguard's EM ETF Goes Sans South Korea
June 28, 2013-- The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF VWO officially begins life without any exposure to South Korea today when the ETF transitions to the FTSE Emerging Index.
Last October, Vanguard stunned the ETF community when it said it would move 22 of its ETFs that tracked MSCI indexes to other indexes, including some built by FTSE.
Until the end of 2012, VWO tracked the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the same index followed by the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund EEM, VWO's primary rival. At the start of this year, VWO began following the FTSE Emerging Transition Index, gradually reducing the ETF's exposure to South Korea in the process.
Source: Market Watch
NASDAQ Closing Cross Calculates U.S. Russell Indexes for the Tenth Consecutive Year for Russell's Annual Reconstitution
June 28, 2013--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the NASDAQ Closing Cross was used for the tenth consecutive year to rebalance NASDAQ-listed securities in the entire family of U.S. Russell indexes during their annual reconstitution.
Approximately 696.5 million shares representing $14.1 billion were executed in the NASDAQ Closing Cross in 1.7 seconds across some 2,271 NASDAQ-listed stocks.
NASDAQ official closing prices (NOCPs) determined by the NASDAQ Closing Cross are widely used throughout the industry, by Russell Investments, Standard & Poor's, Dow Jones, and mutual funds across the country. The NASDAQ Closing Cross mechanism provides market participants with transparency and consistent prices with the dissemination of imbalances, indicative and likely clearing prices every five seconds via the Net Order Imbalance Indicator. NASDAQ OMX's INET technology platform processes accurate closing prices for the industry in microseconds.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
EPFR Global News Release-Off ramps get crowded after Fed unveils clearer road map for end of QE3
June 28, 2013--Any reservations US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might have had about his credibility were dispelled during the fourth week of June.
Investors and financial markets responded to his reaffirmation of the US central bank’s desire to start winding down its current quantitative easing program, and possibly end it next year, by stampeding towards the exits. Outflows from EPFR Global-tracked Bond Funds smashed the previous record set only two weeks previously while investors pulled over $10 billion from Emerging Markets Equity and Bond Funds.
Visit www.epfr.com for more info
Source: EPFR
IMF Releases Data on the Currency Composition of Foreign Exchange Reserves with Additional Data on Australian and Canadian Dollar Reserves
June 28, 2013--The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today released on its website the quarterly data on the currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves (COFER) with an expanded currency range, separately identifying two additional currencies-the Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar.
COFER is an IMF database managed by the IMF’s Statistics Department, containing end-of-period quarterly data of reporting countries and jurisdictions. With the separate identification of Australian dollar and Canadian dollar reserves, seven currencies are now distinguished in COFER data: (1) U.S. dollar; (2) Euro; (3) Pound sterling; (4) Japanese yen; (5) Swiss franc; (6) Australian dollar; and (7) Canadian dollar. All other currencies are included indistinguishably in the category of "other currencies".
Source: IMF
The World Gold Council appoints Kevin Feldman as Managing Director-Investment Worldwide
June 26, 2013--The World Gold Council, the market development organisation for the gold industry, has appointed Kevin Feldman as Managing Director-Investment Worldwide.
He will be responsible for growing the organisation's portfolio of commercial partnerships, and enhancing its market leadership in gold ETFs and other physical gold products across the world. Based in New York, his responsibilities will also include overseeing US operations.
Source: World Gold Council
Despite global investment contraction, inflows to least developed countries hit record, UNCTAD report shows
June 26, 2013--Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to least developed countries (LDCs) rose by 20 per cent in 2012 to a record US$26 billion, UNCTAD's World Investment Report 20131 reveals.
The majority of greenfield investment in LDCs in 2012 originated from other developing economies, led by India, the annual survey notes. Greenfield investment is new investment or the expansion of existing investment in recipient nations, as opposed to investment through mergers and acquisitions.
Source: UNCTAD
Proposals for international leverage ratio and associated disclosure requirements released by the Basel Committee
June 26, 2013--The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published today its Revised Basel III Leverage Ratio Framework and Disclosure Requirements for consultation.
As well as strengthening the regulatory capital base and enhancing risk coverage, the Basel III reforms introduced a leverage ratio into the regulatory framework. The leverage ratio was designed to serve as an important backstop to the risk-based capital measures by constraining the build-up of leverage in the banking system and providing an extra layer of protection against model risk and measurement error. Since the Basel III reforms were announced, the Committee has been working to formulate a leverage ratio requirement that is not only robust, but also internationally consistent given the underlying differences in national accounting standards.
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Source: BIS
OFT publishes BlackRock-Credit Suisse decision
Source: OFT (Office of Fair Trading)
ISDA publishes Additional Provisions relating to Credit Derivative Transactions with a Restricted Delivery Party where Physical Settlement applies
The Additional Provisions are for use where the settlement method is physical settlement (either as the fallback settlement method or otherwise) and either party to the Credit Derivative Transaction is restricted from holding a Loan or there is a limit on the outstanding principal balance of a Bond which it may hold. This may be the case where, for example, the protection seller is a UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) fund. The Additional Provisions provide for cash settlement rather than physical settlement to occur in these cases.
Source: International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA)
Northern Trust White paper-Understanding Factor Tilts
Empirical studies of popular style tilts like value, small size
and momentum repeatedly have been shown to outperform benchmarks across most
global markets. Because these results are inconsistent with the classic notion that return is a function of risk alone, they are considered anomalous.
To better understand the role factor tilts can play in a portfolio, it is helpful to understand their origin and historical track record. From here, we will examine the theoretical
justification for their effectiveness and the consistency of their returns through time. In doing so, we have expanded the traditional scope of style factors to include volatility,
quality and dividend yield, among others. view the Northern Trust White paper-Understanding Factor Tilts
Source: Northern Trust
June 26, 2013--On June 13, 2013, the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) published the full text of the Anticipated acquisition by BlackRock of the exchange traded funds business of Credit Suisse decision.
June 25, 2013--The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced the publication of Additional Provisions relating to Credit Derivative Transactions with a Restricted Delivery Party where Physical Settlement applies.
Style factor tilts can play a valuable role in portfolio
June 25, 2013--Although their efficacy conflicts with modern financial theory, investors have successfully employed style factor tilts for more than 40 years to improve on passive capitalization weighted equity portfolios.
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