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SEC Proposes Private Fund Systemic Risk Reporting Rule
January 25, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed a rule to require advisers to hedge funds and other private funds to report information for use by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in monitoring risk to the U.S. financial system.
The proposed rule would implement Sections 404 and 406 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The proposal creates a new reporting form (Form PF) to be filed periodically by SEC-registered investment advisers who manage one or more private funds. Information reported on Form PF would remain confidential.
"The data collection we propose will play an important role in supporting the framework created by the Dodd-Frank Act and is designed to ensure that regulators have a view into any financial market activity of potential systemic importance," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.
read more
Source: SEC,gov
Financial crisis report to blame Wall Street
January 25, 2011--The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will on Thursday blame unchecked Wall Street excess for much of the 2008 turmoil, highlighting lax risk management, distortive bonuses, predatory lending and insufficient regulation, say people who have read the final report.
But hopes for a definitive examination of the crisis, like the 1930s Pecora hearings into the Great Crash, were dashed when Republican commissioners refused to endorse the report and criticised the way the panel was run.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dd14e65e-28e6-11e0-aa18-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1C7o8KmkN
Source: FT.com
iShares files with the SEC
January 25, 2011--iShares has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the iShares FTSE China A50 Index Fund.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
Investors Moving Away From Mutual Funds and Towards ETFs
Vanguard Favored in Both Product Categories
January 25, 2011--Fewer affluent Americans are using mutual funds, and even among those investors who continue their use, allocations to mutual funds are down significantly. Meanwhile, ETFs continue to gain in both popularity and proportional share of retail investor assets. As this major industry shift unfolds, Vanguard leads other providers in investor impressions across both product categories. These and other findings are included in the 2011 Investor Brandscape™ report that was released by Cogent Research on January 7, 2011. The report is based on a nationally representative sample of 4,000 investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets.
According to Cogent, as of October 2010, 75% of investors own mutual funds, a figure that is down from 78% a year earlier and a full nineteen percentage points below the more than nine in ten (94%) of investors who owned at least one mutual fund in October of 2006. Meanwhile, within the same 4-year period, the proportion of investors who report owning ETFs has increased 57%, from 7% to 11%.
Despite the decline in use over the past year, the proportion of assets current mutual fund owners allocate to these products remained steady. However, since 2006, the average allocation investors make to mutual funds has eroded significantly, down from 53% to a present level of 44%. During that time, the average ETF allocation increased 45%, from 11% to 16%.
“These numbers reflect a dramatic shift in preference among investors for both mutual funds and ETFs,” said Cogent Research Principal John Meunier. “And while it’s impossible to know exactly how things will play out, it’s clear that a major realignment is underway.”
According to Meunier, “Traditional mutual fund providers are fighting tooth and nail for a shrinking piece of real estate, while established ETF providers face a different challenge; fending off a rush of new providers in a rapidly expanding marketplace.”
One key measure of which firms are best positioned to compete in the battles for market share that lie ahead is how favorable investors are toward the providers they know. This bodes especially well for Vanguard, which leads in investor favorability in both product categories. In fact, half of all investors that know Vanguard have strong positive impressions (top-3 favorability ratings on a 0-10 scale) of the firm as both an ETF (52%) and mutual fund (50%) provider. Vanguard’s strongest competition on this measure among mutual fund providers comes from Riversource (47%), Fidelity Investments (44%) and American Funds (40%). Among ETF providers, iShares (46%), PowerShares (43%), Claymore/Guggenheim (43%), PIMCO (42%), and Charles Schwab (40%) all resonate favorably with at least four in ten investors familiar with each brand.
According to Meunier, “These investor favorability scores not only reflect the strong positive net flows earned last year by Vanguard in both the mutual fund and ETF categories. More importantly, they suggest the company’s momentum is very likely to continue in 2011.”
About Cogent Research
Emerging Markets Week in Review- 1/17/2011 - 1/21/2011
January 24, 2011--The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Composite Index fell 1.69% last week on concerns that rising food prices will drive tighter monetary policy.
Telecom and Energy, two of the worst performing sectors last year, declined the least last week, down 0.45% and 0.53% respectively. The Consumer and Financial stocks were down 3.08% and 2.92% respectively.
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Source: Emerging Global Advisors
Exchange-Traded Funds: US ETF Weekly Update Morgan Stanley
January 24, 2011--Weekly Flows: $2.1 Billion Net Inflows
ETFsTraded $253 Billion Last Week
No ETF Launches-AdvisorSharesLowers Expense Cap on ETF
Van Eck Announces Share Split on Indonesia ETF
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Flows by Market Segment
ETFshad net inflows of $2.1 billion last week; third week in a row of net inflows
Net inflows were led by US Large-Caps last week; US Large-Caps account for 22% of total ETF assets
ETF assets stand at more than $1 trillion dollars, nearly doubling over the past two years
13-week flows remain mostly positive among asset classes
$44.8 bln of net inflows into ETFs over past 13 weeks (75% into US Equity ETFs)
We note that Fixed Income ETFsposted net outflows over the past 13 weeks, a big reversal from most of 2010
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Largest Flows by Individual ETF
For the third straight week, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) posted largenet inflows
SPY generated net inflows of $1.8 billion last week and over the last 13 weeks has exhibited net inflows of $9.0 billion
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) exhibited the largest net outflows over the past 4 and 13 weeks ($2.7 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively)
request report
Source: ETF Research-Morgan Stanley
SEC Releases Staff Study Recommending a Uniform Fiduciary Standard of Conduct for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers
January 24, 2011-- The Securities and Exchange Commission submitted to Congress a staff study recommending a uniform fiduciary standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers -- no less stringent than currently applied to investment advisers under the Advisers Act -- when those financial professionals provide personalized investment advice about securities to retail investors.
The study, provided to Congress last night, which looked into obligations and standards of conduct of financial professionals, was required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
In the study, the staff notes that investment advisers and broker-dealers are regulated extensively under different regulatory regimes. But, many retail investors do not understand and are confused by the roles played by investment advisers and broker-dealers. The study finds that "many investors are also confused by the standards of care that apply to investment advisers and broker-dealers" when providing personalized investment advice about securities.
The study further states that "retail investors should not have to parse through legal distinctions to determine" the type of advice they are entitled to receive. "Instead, retail customers should be protected uniformly when receiving personalized investment advice about securities regardless of whether they choose to work with an investment adviser or a broker-dealer."
view the Study on Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers
Source: SEC.gov
JP Morgan files with the SEC
January 24, 2011--JP Morgan has filed a Amendment No.2 to FORM S-1 with the SEC for the J.P. Morgan Physical Copper Trust.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
iShares files with the SEC
January 24, 2011---iShares has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
iShares files with the SEC
January 24, 2011--On January 21, 2011. iShares filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index Fund.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
