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This New Blockchain Platform Aims to Give Gold a Digital Edge
March 26, 2018--TradeWind Markets system also backed by IEX, Goldcorp
'Most important thing' to hit gold market in decades: Sprott
Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain were thought by some to replace gold as the ultimate haven against financial calamity. Now the gold market is using blockchain to kick back at crypto and bring precious metals into the digital age.
TradeWind Markets Inc., a technology provider backed by Sprott Inc., Goldcorp Inc. and IEX Group Inc. on Monday launched a new digital gold trading and settlement platform that aims to simplify and speed up trading and reduce transaction costs.
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Source: Bloomberg
Exotic ETF Trading Is Surging Once Again
March 26, 2018--Exchange-traded products see volume surge amid choppy trading
High turnover concentrated among inverse leveraged tech funds
The prime suspects in last month's global rout may be at it again.
Inverse exchange-traded funds--which use leverage to bet against stocks and volatility indexes-- have seen trading activity skyrocket to ominous levels as markets have whipsawed in the past few days. In fact, turnover has only been higher two other times since the financial crisis: in 2016 during a correction and in February when a surging Cboe Volatility Index forced short funds to unwind.
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Source: Bloomberg
SEC Has Some Catching Up to Do on ETFs, IM Chief Says
March 26, 2018--The Big questions, according to SEC's Dalia Blass: Should ETF index providers register as investment advisors? And what does 'ETF' really mean these days?
While delivering an exchange-traded fund rule is a "high priority" for the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management and is overdue, said Dalia Blass, IM's director, perhaps it's also time for ETF index providers to register as investment advisors.
During her March 19 remarks at the Investment Company Institute's mutual funds and investment management conference in San Antonio, Blass noted that, as it stands now, the ETF industry is a more than $3.5 trillion market operating under more than 300 individually issued exemptive orders.
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Source: thinkadvisor.com
BNY hires former Fidelity exec to head investment strategy
March 26, 2018--BNY Mellon merged its three largest boutique asset managers Mellon Capital Management, Standish Mellon Asset Management and The Boston Company Asset Management in November last year to create the $560 billion firm.
BNY Mellon Asset Management North America (BNY Mellon AMNA) has hired former Fidelity, Janus and Goldman alumna Stephanie Pierce as head of investment strategy and innovation.
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Source: citywireusa.com
Thompson Hine Update: SEC Proposes Changes to Liquidity Risk Disclosures
March 26, 2018--Key Notes:
SEC proposes amending Form N-PORT to eliminate the requirement that funds publicly disclose aggregated liquidity classification (i.e., bucketing) information about their portfolios.
It recommends that funds disclose liquidity risk management program operations in annual reports rather than in quarterly Form N-PORT submissions.
It also proposes allowing funds to classify a holding across multiple liquidity buckets rather than forcing a holding into one liquidity category.
It suggests funds disclose cash and cash equivalents on Form N-PORT to facilitate monitoring compliance with highly liquid investment minimum requirements.
In October 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the liquidity rule to promote effective liquidity risk management programs and provide investors with more information regarding the redeemability of fund shares.
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Source: Thompson Hine
IMF Working paper-Aging, Secular Stagnation and the Business Cycle
March 23, 2018--Summary:
As of 2015, U.S. log output per capita was 12 percent below what its pre-2008 linear trend would predict.
To understand why, I develop and estimate a model of the US with demographics, real and monetary shocks, and the occasionally binding ZLB on nominal rates. Demographic changes generate slow-moving trends in the real interest rate, employment, and productivity. I find that demographics alone can explain one-third of the gap between log output per capita and its linear trend in 2015. Demographics also lowered real rates, causing the ZLB to bind between 2009 and 2015, contributing to the slow recovery after the Great Recession.
view the IMF Working paper-Aging, Secular Stagnation and the Business Cycle
Source: IMF
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
March 23, 2018--The current reports for the week of March 20, 2018 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
Thomson Reuters-U.S. Fund-Flows Weekly Report: Equity Funds Drive Net Outflows
March 23, 2018--Thomson Reuters Lipper's fund asset groups (including both mutual funds and ETFs) suffered negative net flows of $6.7 billion for the fund-flows week ended Wednesday, March 21.
Equity funds (-$9.6 billion) accounted for the lion's share of the net outflows, while money market funds (-$305 million) also saw money leave their coffers.
The taxable bond funds (+$2.8 billion) and municipal debt funds (+$445,000) macro-groups both took in net new money for the week.
The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both down for the fund-flows trading week; the S&P retreated 1.37%, while the Dow was off 0.31%. These results reduced the S&P's year-to-date gain to 1.43%, while the Dow saw its year-to-date performance fall into the red (-0.15%). Both indices suffered all of their losses for the week on one trading day (March 19), thanks to controversy over Facebook.
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Source: Thomson Reuters
BlackRock Unveils 7 A.I.-Powered Sector ETFs
March 23, 2018--BlackRock (BLK) launched a suite of sector exchange-traded funds driven by artificial intelligence on Friday.
iShares Evolved U.S. Technology (IETC), iShares Evolved U.S. Consumer Staples (IECS), iShares Evolved U.S. Discretionary Spending (IEDI), iShares Evolved U.S. Financials (IEFN), iShares Evolved U.S. Healthcare Staples (IEHS), iShares Evolved U.S. Innovative Healthcare (IEIH), and iShares Evolved U.S. Media and Entertainment (IEME) were listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange.
BlackRock's so-called evolved classification system will balance "sector evolution driven by changing businesses" while sticking to the traditional categories, such as the Global Industry Classification Standard developed by MSCI and Standard & Poor's.
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Source: Barron's
SerenityShares Names ETF Veteran Reed Williams as ESVP, National Sales Director
March 23, 2018--SerenityShares Investments, an exchange-traded fund ("ETF") sponsor, and leader in socially responsible impact ETFs, is pleased to announce that Reed Williams, a 16-year ETF veteran, has joined the firm as Executive Senior Vice President and National Sales Director.
Mr. Williams will be responsible for defining and leading the execution of SerenityShares' impact investing sales strategy.
Most recently, Mr. Williams spent more than 10 years with WisdomTree Investments, a leading global asset manager and pioneer of both smart beta and actively managed ETF investing.
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Source: serenityshares.com