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SEC investigates ETF use in insider trading
February 9, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Wall Street traders are using exchange-traded funds as a means of disguising insider trading.
ETFs have emerged as a possible mechanism for maximising gains in one stock while potentially masking trading patterns, people familiar with the matter say.
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Source: FT.com
State Street Global Advisors-ETF SNAPSHOT: January 2010
February 9, 2011--STATE STREET HIGHLIGHTS, JANUARY 2011
As of January 31, 2011, 972 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)—with assets totaling approximately $1.0TN—were managed by 33 ETF managers.
ETF industry assets rose $8.8BN for the month—up 0.9%
State Street announces three new additions to its industry ETF family:
SPDR® S&P® Transportation ETF [XTN] – an equal-weighted fund that includes 32 transportation companies with market capitalizations of at least $400MM.
SPDR S&P Telecom ETF [XTL] – an equal-weighted fund that includes 27 telecom companies with market capitalizations of at least $400MM.
SPDR S&P Healthcare Equipment ETF [XHE] – an equal-weighted fund that includes 30 healthcare equipment companies with market capitalizations of at least $400MM.
ETF Industry Detail
ASSET CLASSES ? OVERALL
Both the S&P 500® Index and MSCI EAFE® Index rose 2.7%. US bonds were relatively unchanged with the Barclays U.S. Treasury Index falling 0.02% and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index rising 0.1%. Gold fell 5.6%, to $1,327 per ounce.
Large Cap gains were driven mainly by inflows to the SPDR S&P 500. Losses in Emerging Markets were driven by a combination of negative performance and outflows. Commodity losses were mostly attributed to negitive performance in the gold market.
FLOWS
ETF flows topped $9BN—the fifth consecutive month of positive flows. Large Cap and Fixed Income have the most inflows with $6.6 and $2.9BN, respectively. International-Emerging and Commodities had the most outflows, losing $4.5BN and $2.7BN, respectively. Small Caps had more than $1.4BN in outflows.
For more detail , please visit www.spdrs.com.
Source: State Street Global Advisors
Horizons BetaPro Launches North America's First Single Copper ETF
February 9, 2011--BetaPro Management Inc. ("BetaPro"), the manager of the Horizons BetaPro exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), is pleased to announce the listing of North America's first non-leveraged ETF that offers exposure to the daily price performance of copper futures contracts. The Horizons BetaPro COMEX® Copper ETF will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol HUK.
HUK is BetaPro's third offering that offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to market changes in copper futures contracts.
"Back in June of 2010, we launched the first leveraged copper futures ETFs in North America, listed on the TSX as HKU and HKD. Since then, copper prices have reached record highs and global interest in this important metal has increased. With HUK we are expanding our ETF line up to give investors more choice to gain exposure to copper prices," said Howard Atkinson, President of BetaPro.
Mr. Atkinson pointed out that, outside of going directly to the futures markets, the only way investors can get access to copper through an ETF structure is indirectly through ETFs that track base metal equities.
"In our view, using an ETF linked to the return of copper futures is the most direct and efficient way to invest in copper," Mr. Atkinson said. "While past performance is not indicative of future performance, investors who have bought copper over the last six months have been well-rewarded, as it is generally viewed that the economic recovery in the emerging markets such as China has led to increases in demand for this metal, which is an essential commodity for industrialization and electronics manufacturing."
The Copper ETF seeks investment results, before fees, expenses, distributions, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, that endeavour to correspond to the performance of the COMEX® copper futures contract for a subsequent delivery month. The Copper ETF is denominated in Canadian dollars. Any U.S. dollar gains or losses as a result of the Copper ETF's investment will be hedged back to the Canadian dollar to the best of its ability.
HUK has closed the initial offering of its units and will begin trading on the TSX today, when the market opens this morning.
Source: BetaPro Management Inc
Russell Launches "Stability" Indexes - Innovative Investment Style Indexes Complement Growth And Value Set
February 9, 2011--Russell Investments, creator of the most widely used equity benchmarks for institutional investment products, announced today the launch of the Russell Stability Indexes – offering a third dimension to its multi-factor style indexes.
These new indexes are designed to represent certain stock characteristics not taken into account by existing style indexes, offering benchmark clients another means of tracking investments than traditional growth and value indexes.
Source: Mondovisione
MSCI To Consult On A Proposal To Construct - MSCI Global Socially Responsible Indices
February 9, 2011--MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, including indices, portfolio risk and performance analytics and corporate governance services , announced today that it will consult with the investment community on a proposal to construct MSCI Global Socially Responsible Indices.
The proposed indices aim to support the benchmarking and other index related needs of investors who seek to invest in accordance with their values such as religious beliefs, moral standards or ethical views. The proposed indices will exclude companies that are inconsistent with specific values based criteria and will target companies with high ESG ratings relative to their sector peers.
Source: Mondovisione
Institutional investors have leading share among ETFs traded on the Exchange in January
February 9, 2011--The participation of institutional investors in the total volume of Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Exchange reached 50.7% in January. The participation of foreign investors 23.1% and of financial institutions was at 14.2%. Individual investors had a 10.8% market share of total market volume. Public and private sector companies had 1.2%.
ETFs are a simple alternative for the diversification of investment in variable income. In a single transaction the investor can buy a stock portfolio without having to individually manage each of its shares.
Source: BM&FBOVESPA
U.S. Corporate Bond Market: A Review of Fourth-Quarter and 2010 Rating and Issuance Activity.
January 8, 2011--Summary
In the span of three years, the U.S. corporate bond market has undergone some
significant changes. The share of outstanding bonds rated speculative grade ballooned to 23.9% of market volume by year-end 2010 from 17.5% as recently as 2007.
Investment-grade downgrades ? a product of the financial crisis and severe 2008/2009 recession ? and exceptionally strong high yield bond issuance contributed to the rapidly expanding speculative grade universe. In addition, the share of the U.S.
corporate bond market consisting of industrial bonds now stands at $2.5 trillion (66% of market volume) up from $1.9 trillion in 2007, while financial issues total $1.3 trillion
(34% of market volume), down from $1.9 trillion in 2007.
Rating activity in 2010 was far more moderate and balanced than in 2009. Par downgrades plunged 84% year over year, affecting 3.9% of market volume versus 2009’s grim 23% downgrade rate, while upgrades affected a slightly higher 4% of outstanding bonds.
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Source: Fitch Ratings
Cyber-attack raises SEC questions
February 8, 2011--US lawmakers have questioned the Security and Exchange Commission’s ability to fight cybercrime after the attempted hacking of the Nasdaq OMX stock exchange.
In a letter to the SEC, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey said that the “disturbing information” about the hacking raised questions about the regulator’s preparedness to fight such attacks.
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Source: FT.com
Nasdaq looks to derivatives to boost margins
February 8, 2011---Outside the office window of Robert Greifeld, chief executive of Nasdaq the global exchange operator, progress on the Ground Zero rebuilding is visible, with the Freedom Tower up to 40 storeys.
Mr Greifeld, meanwhile, is presiding over Nasdaq’s own transformation, from a stock exchange to a more diversified group, the fruits of which he hopes will soon be visible to investors.
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Source: FT.com
Hedge funds search for way to short munis
February 8, 2011--How do you “short” an indebted US state? As fears grow over the scale of a crisis some believe could rival the debt problems of the eurozone, hedge funds and other investors are looking at how to trade the market in America’s municipal debt.
For decades, this $3,000bn bond market was safe, predictable and dull. The traditional buyers of the bonds issued by states, cities and other local bodies were wealthy local residents lured to them by the tax breaks on offer for individual investors. They bought the bonds, held them until they matured and then bought more.
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Source: FT.com
