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Vanguard reports April 2013 expense ratio changes
May 1, 2013--In April, expense ratios changed for multiple Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs available to institutional investors, as shown in the tables below. Thirty-four products had reductions in their expense ratios, and 5 had increases.
Expense ratios may fluctuate from year to year based on changes in the cost of managing the funds. For example, economies of scale resulting from an increase in a fund's total assets because of market appreciation or cash flow can help reduce its expense ratio, while a decline in assets can cause the expense ratio to rise.
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Source: Vanguard
Report to the Secretary of the Treasury
May 1, 2013--April 30, 2013
Dear Mr. Secretary:
The economy grew at a moderate pace in the first quarter: real GDP expanded at a 2.5% annual rate, as some of the temporary drags that held growth to a 0.4% pace the prior quarter faded.
The tone of the data late in the first quarter softened, quite likely due to the delayed effect of fiscal restraint enacted at the beginning of the year. That restraint is expected to present a significant headwind to growth in the second quarter, as the drag from sequestered federal spending is added to the drag from higher payroll and income taxes. While recent data point to a deceleration from the first quarter’s respectable growth rate, there are some supports to growth as well. The housing sector appears set to contribute to overall economic growth once again, and the recent decline in energy prices should provide some purchasing power relief to the household sector. Outside of commodity prices, financial conditions have been mixed but broadly remain supportive of continued economic expansion.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
Exchange Traded Concepts Files for YieldShares High Income ETF (YYY)
May 1, 2013--Exchange Traded Concepts, LLC (ETC), in conjunction with YieldShares LLC (YieldShares), announces that Exchange Traded Concepts Trust (Trust) has filed a registration statement, including a preliminary prospectus, with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the YieldShares High Income ETF (YYY).
YYY will seek to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the ISE High IncomeTM Index (High Income Index). The High Income Index seeks to measure the performance of the top 30 U.S. exchange-listed closed-end funds (CEFs), as selected and ranked according to factors designed to result in a portfolio that produces high current income.
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Source: Exchange Traded Concepts
"Kill switches" closer to becoming reality
May 1, 2013--Exchanges are almost ready to submit a proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission that will create "kill switches" or "big red buttons" designed to prevent market disruptions.
These kill switches would track and limit the amount of trading conducted by market participants and would provide a cap on all trading for a given day. The kill switches would be free for all brokers.
Source: SmartBrief.com
CME Group Volume Averaged 11.6 Million Contracts per Day in April 2013, Up 8 Percent from April 2012
Metals volume up 62 percent, to record
Energy volume up 20 percent
Foreign exchange volume up 18 percent
Equities volume up 16 percent
May 1, 2013--CME Group, the world,s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that April 2013 volume averaged 11.6 million contracts per day, up 8 percent compared with April 2012. Total volume for April 2013 was more than 254 million contracts, of which 87 percent was traded electronically.
In April 2013, CME Group metals volume averaged a record 532,000 contracts per day, up 62 percent from April 2012, driven by monthly records across various products including copper. CME Group energy volume averaged 1.9 million contracts per day in April 2013, up 20 percent compared with the prior April. During the month, open interest in NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures reached a record 1.77 million contracts and open interest for NYMEX Brent Crude Oil Futures surpassed 53,000. Furthermore, 458,000 energy contracts were cleared through CME ClearPort, up 16 percent from the prior April and up 5 percent sequentially.
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Source: CME Group
CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight Issues No-Action Letter Providing Time-Limited Relief for Swap Dealers in Connection with Prime Brokerage Arrangements
April 30, 2013--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) today issued a time-limited no-action letter that provides swap dealers with relief from certain External Business Conduct Standards
rules in the context of prime brokerage arrangements.
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Source: CFTC.gov
DB-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy-North America
US ETF Model Portfolios-Country Rotation Portfolio Update
April 30, 2013--Long portfolios were in line with global equities; while Long/Short portfolios lagged in April.
Market Performance
The global equity markets posted strong returns for April, despite intra-month weakness. The MSCI AC World Index (ACWI) gained 2.84% during this period.
ETF Country Rotation Portfolio (CRP) Series Performance
Our long portfolios posted positive returns for April. The tercile, quartile, and quintile portfolios recorded gains of 2.79%, 2.3%, and 1.73%, respectively. On the long/short area, only our Tercile portfolio experienced positive returns (0.28%), while the quartile and quintile portfolios recorded losses of 0.52% and 2.14%, respectively. The main drags to the long/short portfolios came from the short positions in Greece and Italy.
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Source: Deutsche Bank - Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy - North America
State Street Global Advisors Announces Index Change to the SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure
State Street Global Advisors Announces Index Change to the SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 ETF (Symbol: GII)
April 30, 2013--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYS: STT), today announced changes to the index and name of the SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100 ETF (Symbol:GII).
Effective May 1, 2013, the SPDR FTSE/Macquarie Global Infrastructure 100ETF began tracking The S&P Global Infrastructure Index and was renamed the SPDR S&P® Global Infrastructure ETF. The fund's ticker symbol (GII) remains unchanged and no action is required by shareholders. The annual expense ratio will change from 0.59 to 0.40 percent.
The S&P Global Infrastructure Index provides liquid and tradable exposure to 75 companies from around the world that represent the listed infrastructure universe. To create diversified exposure across the global listed infrastructure market, the index has balanced weights across three distinct infrastructure clusters: Utilities, Transportation and Energy.
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Source: State Street Global Advisors
Horizons ETFs Announces Unit Consolidation
April 29, 2013--Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. and its affiliate AlphaPro Management Inc. (collectively "Horizons ETFs"), the manager and trustee of the Horizons Enhanced Income Gold Producers ETF (the "ETF"), have announced today that they intend to consolidate the units of the ETF, as indicated below:
Unit Consolidation
After the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has closed for trading on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, the units of the ETF will be consolidated on the basis of the ratios (the "Consolidation Ratios") set out below, and will begin trading on a consolidated basis on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, the effective date of the consolidation:
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Source: Wall Street Journal
iShares to Close, Liquidate Diversified Alternatives ETF
April 29, 2013--On Thursday, April 25, iShares announced that it is taking the unusual step--for iShares at least--of shuttering an exchange-traded fund.
In a filing and a letter to shareholders, the firm revealed that it plans to close and liquidate the actively managed ETF iShares Diversified Alternatives Trust (ALT), which follows a market-neutral strategy that takes long and short positions in historically correlated assets. The firm said in the letter that it had based the decision on several factors including "client feedback on limited application in investment portfolios" and a "lack of long-term demand for ALT." The ETF has about $57 million in assets, making it one of the larger ETFs to liquidate in recent memory.
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Source: Morningstar