Global ETF News Older than One Year
China says "trust" main challenge for relations with EU
September 10, 2011--The main challenge for China-EU relations lies in the lack of trust produced by Europe's "double standards", China's vice minister for foreign affairs Fu Ying said here on Saturday.
"The main challenge is the problem of trust, of suspicion of each other, of political rejection," Fu said in a a debate on EU-China relations at a conference in Slovenia's lake resort of Bled.
"For many Europeans China is politically incorrect but, at the same time, it is economically correct," Fu said, speaking in English. "I do not know how that logic works, how can an incorrect political system produce correct economic results?"
Source: EUbusiness
Egypt, Kazakhstan Exchanges To Be Added to Dow Jones FEAS Index Universe
September 9, 2011-- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) will be added to the Dow Jones FEAS Index universe, effective after the close of trading on September 16, 2011.
The Dow Jones FEAS Indexes measure the performance of companies across the Euro-Asian region. There are three indexes in the family: a composite and two regional sub-indexes. With the addition of Egypt (77) and Kazakhstan (7), 84 new component stocks will be added to the index, making for a total of 472 component stocks.
The Dow Jones FEAS Composite Index includes component stocks of 16 of the 34 member states of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges. The exchanges include Abu Dhabi (UAE), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Amman (Jordan), Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Belgrade (Serbia), Bucharest (Romania), Cairo (Egypt), Nablus (Palestine), Istanbul (Turkey), Karachi (Pakistan), Manama (Kingdom of Bahrain), Muscat (Oman), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Skopje (Republic of Macedonia), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Zagreb (Croatia).
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
ETF Securities surpasses US$30 billion in assets under management
Compounded annual growth rate of 53% in AUM over 3 years
Most traded commodity ETPs in Europe (56% of market share)
ETFS Physical Gold most traded commodity ETP in Europe
September 9, 2011--ETF Securities, pioneers in specialist exchange-traded products (ETPs), has seen its assets under management (AUM) surpass the US$30 billion mark.
Over the past 12 months, ETF Securities’ AUM have increased by 52% as investors seek the safe-haven status of gold against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and financial market volatility.
Thematic ETFs and currency ETCs have also seen strong growth recently. Together they contributed around 25% of the company's total AUM growth in the first half of 2011, up considerably from 5% in the first half of 2010.
Commenting, Mark Weeks, Managing Director, ETF Securities, said:
'Not only is our US$30bn AUM a milestone for the company, but it's also telling of the changing environment in the way investors are using commodities to form their portfolios. In recent years, it has become increasingly important to consider investment ideas that are different from traditional strategies and asset classes.
Source: ETF Securities
Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, Pangang Group Steel Vanadium & Titanium, Among Five New Additions to Dow Jones China 88 Index
Focus Media Holding, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, Air China Join Dow Jones China Offshore 50 Index
Changes Follow Regular Index Review
September 8, 2011--Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group
Co. Ltd. (600887.SH) and Pangang Group Steel Vanadium & Titanium Co. Ltd.
(000629.SZ) will be among five stocks added to the Dow Jones China 88 Index
following a regular semi-annual review, it was announced today by Dow Jones
Indexes.
The Dow Jones China 88 Index tracks the largest and most liquid 88 stocks in China's Class-A market and reflects about 39.56% of the float-adjusted market capitalization of both the Shanghai and Shenzhen Class-A markets.
Inner Mongolian Baotou Steel Union Co. Ltd. (600010.SH), China Nonferrous Metal Industry's Foreign Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. (000758.SZ) and XCMG Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. (000425.SZ) will also be added to the index as part of its semi-annual (March and September) review.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
BASF, Pearson, PPG Industries Added to Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index
Taiwan's HIWIN Technologies, KCC of South Korea, Australia's SAI Global Among Stocks Added to Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Index
Changes Follow Regular Periodic Reviews Of Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes
September 8, 2011--BASF of Germany, the U.K.'s Pearson PLC and PPG Industries Inc. of the U.S.will be added to the Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index, following a regular quarterly review, Dow Jones Indexes announced today.
A total of 130 stocks will be added to the index, while 103 will be deleted, increasing the number of components in the index to 2,618 from 2,591. Following BASF (BAS.XE), Pearson (PSON.LN) and PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG), the largest new components (by free-float market capitalization) in the index are Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd. of the U.S. (NYSE:IR) and The Netherlands' Akzo Nobel N.V. (AKZA.AE).
The free-float market capitalization of the reconstituted Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index increased to US$12.8 trillion from US$12.6 trillion.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Economic growth perspectives weakening as recovery slows, OECD says
September 8, 2011-- Economic recovery appears to have come close to a halt in the major industrialised economies, with falling household and business confidence affecting both world trade and employment, according to new analysis from the OECD. Growth remains strong in most emerging economies, albeit at a more moderate pace.
“Growth is turning out to be much slower than we thought three months ago, and the risk of hitting patches of negative growth going forward has gone up,” OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan said during a presentation of the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.
Economic growth in the G7 economies excluding Japan will remain at an annualised rate of less than 1% in the second half of 2011.
Source: OECD
General Mills Added To Dow Jones Summer/Winter Games Index
Number of Index Components Increases to 38 Following Regular Quarterly Review
September 8, 2011-- General Mills, a new official supplier to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, will be added to the Dow Jones Summer/Winter Games Index, Dow Jones Indexes announced today.
The Dow Jones Summer/Winter Games Index measures the performance of all publicly traded securities of companies that are official partners, sponsors or suppliers of the next Olympiad – in this case, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games inLondon.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext announce that Alpha Beta Netherlands Holding N.V. will not pursue a takeover law squeeze-out of the remaining Deutsche Börse AG shareholders who have not tendered
September 8, 2011--Deutsche Börse AG (XETRA:DB1) and NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) today announced that the holding company of the merged group, Alpha Beta Netherlands Holding N.V. (“Holdco”) will not pursue a takeover law squeeze-out under, Section 39a and b of the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act, of the remaining Deutsche Börse shares that were not tendered in the original exchange offer made by Holdco.
In addition, the Companies also said that Holdco was not currently contemplating the implementation of a corporate squeeze-out under Section 327a et seq. of the German Stock Corporation Act, and that it was anticipated that Deutsche Börse would enter into a domination agreement. The companies encouraged all holders of the untendered Deutsche Börse shares to tender their shares under the terms of the original offer. Shareowners who tender their shares into the original offer will be eligible to receive the one-time special dividend of €2.00 per Holdco share from Holdco’s capital reserves anticipated to be paid shortly after closing of the transaction.
In July 2011, NYSE Euronext achieved overwhelming support from its shareholders for the proposed combination with Deutsche Börse in a special shareholder meeting. Shortly thereafter, 95.41 percent of the shares in Deutsche Börse AG were tendered under the exchange offer made by Alpha Beta Netherlands Holding N.V. to the shareholders of Deutsche Börse by the end of the additional offer acceptance period on August 1, 2011 (midnight, CEST) 2011.
Source: Deutsche Börse
Over-regulation could strain cost of credit
September 7, 2011--Corrado Passera, chief executive of Intesa Sanpaolo, the largest retail bank in Italy, one of the countries at the core of the European sovereign crisis, has warned regulators against over-policing the banking system saying it could put strain on the cost of credit.
Mr Passera told the Financial Times that new rules for capital and liquidity requirements introduced since the financial crisis have so far made the system safer and helped to prevent any credit crunch in the current sovereign turmoil.
Source: FT.com
US Competitiveness Ranking Continues to Fall; Emerging Markets Are Closing the Gap
Switzerland, Singapore and Sweden top the Global Competitiveness Report ranking
The United States continues the decline it began three years ago, falling one more place to fifth position
Emerging economies continue to close the competitiveness gap with OECD economies
September 7, 2011-- Switzerland tops the overall rankings in The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, released today by the World Economic Forum. Singapore overtakes Sweden for second position. Northern and Western European countries dominate the top 10 with Sweden (3rd), Finland (4th), Germany (6th), the Netherlands (7th), Denmark (8th) and the United Kingdom (10th). Japan remains the second-ranked Asian economy at 9th place, despite falling three places since last year.
The United States continues its decline for the third year in a row, falling one more place to fifth position. In addition to the macroeconomic vulnerabilities that continue to build, some aspects of the United States’ institutional environment continue to raise concern among business leaders, particularly related to low public trust in politicians and concerns about government inefficiency. On a more positive note, banks and financial institutions are rebounding for the first time since the financial crisis and are assessed as somewhat sounder and more efficient.
Germany maintains a strong position within the Eurozone, although it goes down one position to sixth place, while the Netherlands (7th) improves by one position in the rankings, France drops three places to 18th, and Greece continues its downward trend to 90th. Competitiveness-enhancing reforms will play a key role in revitalizing growth in the region and tackling its key challenges, fiscal consolidation and persistent unemployment.
view the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012
Source: World Economic Forum
