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BlackRock Launches iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF
Seeks to maximize tax-free income through diversified exposure to short-term municipal bonds
March 5, 2015--
BlackRock, Inc. BLK announced today that its iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, the world's largest manager of ETFs, has launched the iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF (bats:MEAR).
iShares Short Maturity Municipal Bond ETF is actively managed by BlackRock's municipal bond team with more than 25 years of investment experience and backed by a dedicated municipal credit research team.
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Source: BlackRock
Nuveen taking another crack at ETFs
March 5, 2015--Nuveen Investments is planning to launch active exchange traded funds, nearly 13 years after abandoning an earlier ETF foray.
In a filing last week, the firm proposed a suite of rollouts with broad investment mandates, covering domestic and foreign equities and fixed-income securities as well as currencies, futures contracts,...
U.S. mutual funds cut expenses by shifting billions to trusts
March 4, 2015--Mutual fund companies, including No. 2 Fidelity Investments, have slashed fees on their most popular funds by shifting billions of dollars into collective trusts not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The growing shift to collective trusts could prove a weapon for actively managed mutual funds losing out to low cost passive investment products such as the exchange-traded funds offered by rivals such as Vanguard Group, the biggest mutual fund company. For investors, one drawback is less transparency about the risks and performances of their holdings.
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Source: Reuters
Bitcoin's golden moment: BIT gets FINRA approval
March 4, 2015-Online wallet and exchange services such as Coinbase have made it incredibly easy for the everyday investor and user of bitcoin to buy the currency.
But what if you want to buy and hold bitcoin as an investment? Or, what if you want to diversify your investment portfolio into this new asset class, but do not have the expertise or resources to securely procure and store bitcoin?
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Source: cnbc.com
DB-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy-North America-US ETF Market Monthly Review-US ETP assets clearly crossed $2.0 trillion mark in February
March 4, 2015--Data in this report is as of Friday, February 27th
US ETP assets rose by $108.7bn
ETP assets in the US rose by $108.7bn to $2.066 trillion (YTD +4.4%) last month.
ETF AUM was 14.5% of the Mutual Fund AUM at the end of January vs.14.6% at the end of 2014, and 6.5% at the end of 2007.
Flows Review: Equity ETPs capture $17.4bn during February
US ETPs experienced inflows of $33.2bn during February (+1.7% of last month's AUM).
Equity, Fixed Income, and Commodity ETPs experienced inflows during last month of $17.4bn, $14.0bn and $1.5bn, respectively.
New Launch Calendar: Twenty two new products reached the market during February; two issuers made its debut
There were twenty one new ETFs and one ETN listed during the previous month; nineteen of these were listed in the NYSE Arca; two in the BATS, while the remaining one was listed in the NASDAQ. The new products offer exposure to Global Markets, EM, DM ex US, US, mid and small cap US equities, 2x leveraged exposure to US small-caps, US Real Estate sector, one new thematic fund focusing on US large-cap stocks with the highest Buyback ratio, global infrastructure companies, EM equities with a GDP weighted methodology, 2x leveraged long and short versions of gold miners funds with focus on broad and small market caps; a portfolio comprised of income producing floating rate securities, U.S. Treasury via futures contracts and options on futures weighted to achieve a negative 10Y average effective portfolio duration, and to coal futures contracts.
Turnover Review: Floor activity decreased by 28.6% in February
ETP turnover totaled $1.283 trillion last month, 28.6% (-$513.3bn) lower than the previous month figure of $1.796 trillion, and 8.0% below last year's monthly average of $1.395 trillion. Equity, Fixed Income and Commodity ETPs turnover decreased by $490.1bn (-30.6%), $6.4bn (-5.6%) and $8.3bn (-15.4%) during February, respectively. ETP trading made up 24.6% of all US cash equity trading in February, down from last year's peak of 30.0% in October, and still below its 3-year monthly average of 26.3%.
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Source: Deutsche Bank-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy-North America
WisdomTree Launches Europe Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund (EUSC)
Industry's First ETF for European Small Cap Equity Exposure Without the Euro
March 4, 2015--WisdomTree (NASDAQ: WETF), an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager, today announced the launch of the WisdomTree Europe Hedged SmallCap Equity Fund (EUSC) on the NYSE Arca.
EUSC seeks to provide exposure to small capitalization stocks within European equity markets while hedging exposure to the euro. The Fund has a net expense ratio of 0.58%.
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Source: WisdomTree
Bitcoin Swaps Exchange Enters Merger Agreement to Get Listed Publicly
March 3, 2015--Tera Group Inc, the operator of the US's first regulated Bitcoin derivative platform Tera Exchange,
recently signed a merger agreement with MGT Capital Investment; thereby adding a crucial step that should make the former a publicly listed company.
According to the available details, both the parties have currently agreed on some "contemplated" terms of the agreement which will reach its conclusion by March 16th, 2015.
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Source: newsbtc.com
Altavista-Sector SPDR Analyzer + Equal Sector Weight ETF-March 2015
March 3, 2015--The monthly update on each of the nine Select Sector SPDRs plus the ALPS Equal Sector Weight ETF is now available.
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Source: AltaVista Research
CBO-Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, March 2015
March 3, 2015--The debt limit-commonly referred to as the debt ceiling-is the maximum amount of debt that the Department of the Treasury can issue to the public and to other federal agencies.
That amount is set by law and has been increased over the years in order to finance the government's operations. Currently, there is no statutory limit on the issuance of new federal debt because the Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act (Public Law 113-83), enacted in February 2014, suspended the debt ceiling through March 15, 2015.
What Is the Current Situation?
The Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act specifies that the amount of borrowing that occurs while the limit is suspended be added to the previous debt limit of $17.212 trillion. Therefore, on March 16, the limit will be reset to reflect cumulative borrowing through the period of suspension. The amount of outstanding debt subject to limit has now risen to around $18.1 trillion. That amount is about twice the outstanding debt subject to limit at the end of fiscal year 2007.
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Source: Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Morgan Stanley-US ETF Weekly Update
March 2, 2015--Weekly Flows: $7.0 Billion Net Inflows
Sixth Consecutive Week of Net Inflows
High-conviction ETF Recommendations Slide
ETF Assets Stand at $2.1 Trillion, Up 5% YTD
Seven ETF Launches Last Week
Deutsche Increases Creation Limit on China ETF
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Flows by Market Segment
ETFs posted net inflows of $7.0 bln last week; sixth consecutive week of net inflows
Last week's net inflows were led by International - Developed ETFs at $3.6 bln; conversely, US Small- & Micro-Cap ETFs posted net outflows of $1.6 bln, the most of any category we measured
Eleven of the 15 categories we measured posted net inflows last week
ETF assets stand at $2.1 tln, up 5% YTD
13-week flows remain positive among most asset classes; combined $80.7 bln in net inflows
Fixed Income ETFs generated net inflows of $25.9 bln over the last 13 weeks, the most of any category, and accounted for 32% of total ETF net inflows; over the period, Fixed Income net inflows were broad-based, with High Yield to Treasury ETFs posting strong flows
The US Large-Cap ETF category was one of only two groups to exhibit net outflows over the last 13 weeks ($5.2 billion net outflows); the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was the primary contributor to the outflows, with net outflows of $8.5 bln
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Largest Flows by Individual ETF
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) posted net inflows of $2.4 bln last week, leading all ETFs
Despite SPY's net inflows last week, over the last 13 weeks, the fund has exhibited net outflows of $8.5 bln
The WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ) had another positive week of net flows at $726 mln; over the last 13 weeks, HEDJ generated net inflows of $6.6 bln, more than any ETF, and 55% of its current market cap
The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) generated net inflows of $366 mln last week and $3.6 bln over the last 13 weeks; we've seen investors return to the high yield market in 2015 after shunning it during the second half of 2014
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) exhibited net outflows of $1.8 bln last week, the most of any ETF; IWM has posted net outflows for three consecutive weeks totaling $2.9 bln
US-Listed ETFs: ETF Dollar Volume
ETF monthly $ volume as a % of listed trading was down in February to 25% relative to January's 29% reading; over the last 5 years, ETF monthly $ volume as a % of listed trading volume averaged 28%
Over the last five years, ETF monthly $ volume as a % of listed trading volume peaked in August 2011 at 36%
ETF $ volume increased by $38 bln last week compared to the prior week, however is still $90 bln below its 13-week average
US Large-Cap ETFs accounted for 39% of ETF $ volume last week, below their 43% 13-week average; US Large-Cap ETFs make up 26% of ETF market share
US-Listed ETFs: Short Interest Data Updated: Based on data as of 2/13/15
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) had the largest increase in USD short interest at $6.0 bln
SPY's shares short at 257 mln are at their highest level since 10/31/14; the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) also had a large increase in short interest last period ($441 mln)
Notably, shares short for the iShares US Real Estate ETF (IYR) declined to their lowest level since 7/31/13
597 ETFs exhibited short interest increases while 748 experienced short interest declines over the last period
Aggregate ETF USD short interest increased by $3.0 bln over the period ended 2/13/15
The average shares short/shares outstanding for ETFs is currently 3.5%, down from 3.6% last period
The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) replaced the CurrencyShares Euro Trust (FXE) as the most heavily shorted ETF as a % of shares outstanding last period at 277%
Eight of the 10 most heavily shorted ETFs as a % of shares outstanding are sector based (SMH, BBC, XBI, XOP, DRV, XRT, KRE, IYR)
Based on multiple borrowings and the ability to continuously create new shares, shares short as a % of shares outstanding can exceed 100% (only seven ETFs exhibited shares short as a % of shares outstanding greater than or equal to 100%)
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Source: Morgan Stanley
