If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
Trillion-dollar club tightens grip on fund market during crisis
November 17, 2020--Market leaders such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street have gained control of 61% of the industry's assets.
Multi-trillion dollar managers including BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and Fidelity tightened their stranglehold on the investment industry during the recent market correction, as jittery investors accelerated their migration towards large, low-cost fund groups.The concentration of assets in the hands of the largest investment managers, a trend that has been gathering pace since the 2008 financial crisis, spiked significantly in the first three months of the year, according to analysis from US-based research group Flowspring.
view more
Source: FT.com
Leatherback Asset Management Launches its First ETF
November 17, 2020--Actively managed Leatherback Long/Short Alternative Yield ETF (LBAY) is overseen by portfolio manager and founder Michael Winter, a 20-year veteran of hedge funds, mutual funds
Leatherback Asset Management, in partnership with Tidal ETF Services, is today launching its first Exchange-Traded Fund: the Leatherback Long/Short Alternative Yield ETF (LBAY).
LBAY is an actively managed alternative yield strategy that provides a cost-effective, liquid, and tax efficient means for investors to add a high-quality allocation with targeted monthly distributions to their respective portfolios.
Managed by Leatherback founder and 20-year veteran of the mutual fund and alternative asset management industry Michael Winter, LBAY holds long positions in equity securities and other publicly traded instruments that appear well-positioned to seek attractive yields to shareholders.
view more
Source: Leatherback Asset Management
Industrial production up 1.1% in October, but still lagging
November 17, 2020--U.S. industrial production rose 1.1% in October, recovering much of the spring decline caused by the virus pandemic.
It was a rebound after a downturn in September, but production still remains below pre-pandemic levels, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.
The rise was slightly better than the 1% analysts were expecting and combined with an upward revision in September's number, has to be seen as good news as coronavirus cases spike across the U.S. and states re-instate restrictions.
It's unclear what manufacturers will face in the coming months, but a sudden decline in demand, possibly combined with government-imposed restrictions on their operations due to the virus, could severely dampen industrial output.
view more
Source: apnews.com
Fed's Powell signals emergency credit programs should be extended
November 17, 2020--Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday it was not time to shut down emergency programs aimed at battling the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, with cases again surging and the economy left with "a long way to go" to recover.
"I don't think it is time yet, or very soon," to shutter the suite of credit programs set up by the Fed last spring with the authorization of the Treasury Department and funding from Congress, Powell said in the clearest indication yet he feels the programs are likely needed beyond Dec. 31, when many are due to expire.
Extending the programs would require Treasury's approval under the "lame-duck" Trump administration. Some Republicans in Congress have balked at keeping them open, particularly the program of lending for local governments.
view more
Source: reuters.com
Tesla to Join S&P 500 Next Month as Largest-Ever New Member
November 16, 2020--Shares spike in late trading; effective date will be Dec. 21
Announcement caps months of speculation over stock's inclusion
Tesla Inc., Elon Musk's 17-year-old upstart carmaker, took a giant step toward blue-chip respectability on Monday, getting named to one of the world's most famous stock indexes in an action that will greatly broaden its investor base.
The announcement that Tesla will enter the S&P 500 on Dec. 21 follows months of speculation, and one temporary setback, after the stock failed to make the cut during the index’s quarterly rebalancing in early September.
view more
Source: bloomberg.com
Fears of double-dip recession rise alongside COVID-19 cases
November 15, 2020--A sharp spike in COVID-19 cases across the U.S. is threatening the economic recovery and increasing the odds of a double-dip recession.
Daily coronavirus infections surpassed 100,000 for the first time earlier this month; since then, they have surged past the 150,000 mark.
At the same time, congressional leaders appear increasingly unlikely to strike a deal on another COVID-19 relief package, even as another round of key unemployment benefits is set to expire in the coming weeks.
view more
Source: thehill.com
Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Launches SmartETFs Sustainable Energy II ETF (SULR)
November 12, 2020--Actively managed global investment strategy will offer investors access to key drivers in the rise of renewable energy.
Guinness Atkinson Asset Management today announced the launch of the SmartETFs Sustainable Energy II ETF (SULR) and SmartETFs.com/SULR, an actively managed global investment strategy designed to provide investors with dedicated exposure to the companies facilitating the world's transition to sustainable energy.
As the demand for energy continues to rise, alternative energy has already become the cheapest and most viable source of energy supply, with energy efficiency being an additional source of cost reduction. Fossil fuel usage is expected to peak in the coming years, and the shift presents a substantial investment opportunity. SULR will allow investors to participate in the energy transition which is already underway, but still in its infancy. The United States Biden clean energy plan, European Union, and China have already proposed plans to transition to renewable energy, creating investable opportunities across the globe.
view more
Source: SmartETFs
Passive attack-How index investing is reshaping the asset-management industry
November 12, 2020--THE STORY of a quiet revolution in asset management begins with Jack Bogle. Actually, it starts in 1974 when Paul Samuelson, an economist and Nobel prizewinner, published an article in the Journal of Portfolio Management arguing that the bulk of mutual-fund managers should go out of business. Most failed to beat the market average and those that did could not be relied upon to repeat the trick.
An archetype was required. Someone should set up a low-cost, low-churn fund that would do nothing more than hold the constituents of the S&P 500. Mr Bogle decided that Vanguard, the mutual-fund group he founded in 1975, should take up the challenge. His index fund was denounced on Wall Street as unAmerican. It received only a trickle of inflows. But by the time of Bogle's death last year, Vanguard was one of the world's biggest asset managers, largely on the strength of its index funds.
view more
Source: economist.com
Direxion Launches Moonshot ETF
November 12, 2020--First ETF Focused on Exposure to Early-Stage Innovation
Direxion announced today the launch of the Direxion Moonshot Innovators ETF. MOON invests in 50 early-stage companies, with the highest allocation of resources to research and development, along with the degree to which firms stress an innovative culture and mission.
While President John F. Kennedy first inspired the idea of a moonshot in 1962, many companies continue to drive further innovative development. A combination of factors, such as resources spent on research and development, along with corporate cultures focused on breaking new ground, support the path towards creating the future in their respective sectors and industries.
view more
Source: Direxion
Global X ETFs Further Expands Thematic Offering with Launch of Emerging Markets Internet & E-commerce ETF (EWEB)
October 11, 2020--Global X ETFs, the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), today announced the launch of the Global X Emerging Markets Internet & E-commerce ETF (EWEB). The fund is a furtherance of Global X's funds offering targeted access to powerful disruptive trends around the world.
In 2018, 74% of global growth was attributable to emerging market economies, driven in large part by a rapidly growing middle class of internet-connected consumers.1 These rising digital consumers are forming new consumption patterns, driving the growth of emerging market e-commerce platforms. In 2019, for example, Amazon celebrated that over $7 billion worth of goods were sold through its platform on Prime Day, a testament to consumer's adoption of e-commerce in developed markets.2 But in China, this number was dwarfed by Alibaba’s 2019 estimated sales totaling $38.4 billion recorded on the nation's Single's Day.3
view more
Source: Global X ETFs