Global ETF News Older than One Year
Bitcoin futures volume climbed to $1.73 trillion in August
September 3, 2021--Volumes across major markets for bitcoin futures hit $1.73 trillion in August, representing an increase from July, according to data collected by The Block Research.
The August figure represents a 17 percent increase from July's $1.47 trillion in futures volume. The futures market's peak occurred in May, when volumes reached $2.56 trillion. As shown in the chart, Binance once again took the most market share for bitcoin futures during August.
Source: theblockcrypto.com
Global asymmetries strike back
September 2, 2021--Asymmetries in the global economy arising from economic concentration, global value chains, financial centres, digital networks and the enduring supremacy of the dominant currency are becoming harder to ignore.
This essay provides a cross-cutting economic perspective on the analysis of global asymmetries at a time of growing emphasis on polarisation and power relations.
Source: bruegel.org
Asset Managers Face Surging Costs Under New Derivatives Rules
September 2, 2021--Asset managers are about to see trading costs surge under new rules meant to reduce risk in the $15.8 trillion derivatives market.
Hedge funds, money managers and insurers with more than 50 billion euros ($59 billion) of uncleared derivatives will have to post more collateral under the penultimate phase of post-crisis regulations that took effect this week.
Group-of-20 leaders decided after the financial crisis to push trading of over-the-counter derivatives through clearinghouses where possible to reduce systemic risk in case of default. The risks from uncleared derivatives were underscored again this year by the implosion of Archegos Capital Management, which accumulated leverage through contracts that are traded off exchanges.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca
Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate the Energy Transition
September 1, 2021--Artificial intelligence (AI) has tremendous potential to accelerate and support the global energy transition
It can act as an intelligent layer across many applications to identify patterns, improve system performance, and predict outcomes of complex situations
However, leading energy and technology experts say that there are several key barriers preventing AI from being adopted rapidly or at global scale New report highlights the technologies' potential to support the energy transition and establishes a set of principles for the energy industry to deploy AI in a safe, fair, and trustworthy way.
view the Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate the Energy Transition report
Source: IMF
ETFGI reports assets in the Global ETFs industry reach a record US$9.46 trillion at the end of July 2021
August 31, 2021--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETFs and ETPs ecosystem, reports assets in the Global ETFs industry reach a record 9.46 trillion US dollars at the end of July. ETFs and ETPs listed globally gathered net inflows of US$80.45 billion during July, bringing year-to-date net inflows to a record US$739.54 billion which is higher than the US$373.01 billion gathered at this point last year.
Assets invested in the global ETFs/ETPs industry have increased by 1.2% from US$9.35 trillion at the end of June 2021, to US$9.46 trillion at the end of July, according to ETFGI's July 2021 Global ETFs and ETPs industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)
Highlights
Record $9.46 trillion invested in ETFs and ETPs listed globally at the end of July 2021.
Record YTD 2021 net inflows of $739.54 Bn beating the prior record of $390.93 Bn gathered in YTD 2017.
$739.54 Bn YTD net inflows are just $22 Bn lower than the full year 2020 record net inflows $490.19 Bn.
$1.13 trillion in net inflows gathered in the past 12 months.
Assets have increased 18.4% YTD in 2021, going from $7.99 trillion at end of 2020, to $9.46 trillion.
26th month of consecutive net inflows
Source: ETFGI
Hydrogen development strategies: a global perspective
August 30, 2021--Despite different strategies, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, China and Japan all expect hydrogen to play a significant role in the decarbonisation of their economies by expanding its use in energy and transport systems.
Nearly all global decarbonisation scenarios agree: the future is electric. There are two basic reasons why electrification is the primary and most cost-effective pathway to decarbonisation. First, after decades of subsidy-driven technological innovation, solar and wind have now become the cheapest electricity generation sources in most of the world. Second, rapid technological advances enabling cheaper batteries, heat pumps, electric motors and similar technologies are now allowing electricity to enter sectors traditionally dominated by fossil fuels such as transport, heating and industry.
Source: bruegel.org
How much investment do we need to reach net zero?
August 25, 2021--To become climate neutral by mid-century, the European Union and other major economies must substantially reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during this decade. The EU aims to reduce its emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels with a wide range of policies recently proposed in the 'Fit for 55' package. Meanwhile, the United States (US) aims to reduce its emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, and China wants it’s its CO2 emissions to peak before 2030. To achieve this, serious investments will be needed.
Below, we review the multiple estimates of the investment required to reach climate goals and discuss the macroeconomic relevance of investment on top of what will already be spent to replace existing infrastructure.
Global energy investment trends
Global energy investments currently stand at around $2 trillion per year or 2.5 percent of global GDP, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In an illustrative pathway they recently developed, this will have to rise to $5 trillion or 4.5 percent of GDP by 2030 and stay there until at least 2050 to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 (Figure 1). Much of this will be spent on electricity generation and infrastructure to electrify new economic sectors and to make the electricity system more suitable for much higher volumes and variability of renewable energy.
Source: bruegel.org
The Impact of Fintech on Central Bank Governance
August 24, 2021--Summary:
Fintech presents unique opportunities for central banks. The rapid changes in technology that are transforming the financial system will allow central banks to enhance the execution of various of their core functions, such as currency issuance and payment systems. But some aspects of fintech pose major challenges. Central banks have always been at the cutting edge of financial technology and innovation.
In the past, the invention of the banknote, the processing of payments through debits and credits in book-entry accounts, and the successive transitions of interbank payment systems from the telegraph to internet protocols were all transformative innovations. Today, central banks are facing new and unprecedented challenges: distributed ledger technology, new data analytics (artificial intelligence [AI] and machine learning), and cloud computing, along with a wider spread of mobile access and increased internet speed and bandwidth. The purpose of this note is to discuss the authors' preliminary views on how, from a legal perspective, central banks can best deal with the impact of fintech on their governance. These preliminary views are based on a review of central banks' reaction thus far to the challenges posed by fintech to the legal foundations of their governance.
Source: IMF.org
Global economic data disappointments add to rising growth angst
August 23, 2021--US reports are missing expectations at the highest pace since the depths of the pandemic
US and international data releases are missing forecasts at an accelerating pace, highlighting rising investor angst that the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant will slow the pace of the global economic recovery.
Several closely watched US economic measures published in recent weeks have come in well below Wall Street expectations, indicating the powerful economic growth from the depths of the Covid crisis may be losing steam.
Source: ft.com
Lack of Water Linked to 10 Percent of the Rise in Global Migration
August 23, 2021--In the Middle East and North Africa, the region with the highest levels of forced displacement, water resilience is key to long-term growth
As climate change accelerates a global water crisis, rainfall variability is expected to be one of the contributing forces in migration, according to a new World Bank report released today.
The report anticipates that the world's cities, which receive migrants and are now home to 55% of the global population, will face a rising number of "day-zero" events-when taps run dry.
The report, Ebb and Flow, provides the first-ever global assessment of the impact of water on migration. It is based on analysis of the largest data set on internal migration ever assembled, covering nearly half a billion people from 189 population censuses in 64 countries, and several national and global data sets that have been combined for the first time.
Source: World Bank
