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6 top ETF trends of 2012, and the outlook for '13
December 13, 2012--Exchange-traded funds remain relative upstarts compared with mutual funds. But they're leading the race for investors' assets, on Main Street as well as Wall Street.
Check out the key ETF trends of 2012, and it’s not a stretch to ask whether investors might someday commit as much cash to ETFs as they have to their more established cousins.
Introduced in the early 1990s, ETFs initially were trading tools for professional investors. Similar to low-cost index mutual funds, they track segments of the market and try to match a benchmark stock or bond index rather than beat it. But ETF shares can be traded throughout the day like stocks. That makes it possible to lock in a preferred price without waiting for a closing price. Mutual funds are priced only at the close of daily trading.
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Source: Boston.com
U.S. fund investors pour $8.68 billion into stock ETFs: Lipper
December 13, 2012--Investors in U.S.-based funds pumped the most money into stock exchange-traded funds since mid-September while also putting money into higher-quality corporate bonds in one of the last reporting weeks of the year, data from Thomson Reuters' Lipper service showed on Thursday.
Stock ETFs pulled in $8.68 billion in investor cash in the week ended December 12, the most since mid-September. The inflows offset outflows of $3.71 billion from stock mutual funds, leading to net inflows of $4.97 billion into stock funds.
Investors were less drawn to bond funds overall than they were to stocks, and committed a net $1.24 billion into the funds. Bond mutual funds attracted $674.6 million, while bond ETFs attracted $570.34 million, which was the most cash committed to the passive funds in five weeks.
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Source: Reuters
ProShares Launches First True Merger Arbitrage ETF
Expands Nation's Largest Lineup of Alternative ETFs
December 13, 2012--ProShares, a premier provider of alternative exchange traded funds (ETFs), today announced the launch of the ProShares Merger ETF (Ticker: MRGR), the first ETF based on a true merger arbitrage strategy.
MRGR aims to produce the risk/return characteristics of a merger arbitrage strategy by tracking the performance of the S&P Merger Arbitrage Index (before fees and expenses). The ETF lists on BATS Exchange today.
Merger arbitrage strategies, frequently used by institutions and high-net-worth investors, seek to capture the spread between a target company’s stock price after a proposed merger or acquisition is announced and the deal price that the acquiring company will pay for the target company.
"The goal of MRGR is to produce consistent, positive returns under virtually any market conditions," said Michael L. Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, ProShares' investment advisor. "We are pleased to offer access to a true merger arbitrage strategy delivered for the first time with the cost efficiency, transparency and liquidity of an ETF."
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Source: ProShares
Horizons ETFs Announces Upcoming Name Changes
December 13, 2012--Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") and its affiliate Horizons ETFs Management ( Canada ) Inc. are pleased to announce that effective on or about Friday, December 21, 2012 , the names of certain exchange traded funds listed below (the "ETFs") will change as follows:
Current Name: Horizons Winter-Term NYMEX(R) Crude Oil ETF
New Name: Horizons NYMEX(R) Crude Oil ETF
Current Name: Horizons Winter-Term NYMEX(R) Natural Gas ETF
New Name: Horizons NYMEX® Natural Gas ETF
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Source: Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc.
S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Changes In Canadian Indices - A Deletion From S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
December 13, 2012--The shareholders of Blue Gold Mining Inc. (TSXVN:BGX) have approved the Plan of Arrangement whereby the company will be acquired by Riverstone Resources Inc. (TSXVN:RVS).
Shareholders of Blue Gold Mining will receive 0.801 shares of Riverstone Resources per share held.
Blue Gold Mining will be removed from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of Thursday, December 13, 2012.
Source: S&P Dow Jones
Nasdaq cancels pre-market trades in 9 big-cap stocks
December 13, 2012--Stock exchange operator Nasdaq OMX is cancelling a series of premarket trades that resulted in wild price swings in a number of stocks on Thursday, including Citigroup and Hewlett-Packard, the exchange said.
Nasdaq said in a statement it is cancelling trades in nine stocks in which trades occurred at prices that marked a swing of 10 percent or more from Wednesday's closing prices.
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Source: Reuters
CFTC's Division of Market Oversight Issues Time-Limited No-Action Relief from the Post-Allocation Swap Timing Requirement of § 45.3(e)(ii)(A) of the Commission's Regulations
December 13, 2012--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (Division) today issued a letter providing relief from the post-allocation swap timing requirement of §45.3(e)(ii)(A).
The Division’s no-action letter provides extended post-allocation reporting deadlines for swaps that meet certain criteria, provided that specific conditions are met.
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Source: CFTC.gov
SSGA-US ETF Snapshot: November 2012
November 12, 2012--SNAPSHOT OVERVIEW
1,237 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)-with assets totaling $1.3TN-were managed by 38 ETF managers as of November 30, 2012.
Month over month, ETF assets increased $27.8BN, up 2.2%.
ETF Industry Detail
Asset Classes-Overall
The S&P 500® Index returned 0.6%, while the MSCI EAFE® increased 2.4%. Commodities were positive, with the S&P GSCI® Index up 1.5% and Gold gaining 0.4%. US Bonds were positive with the Barclays US Treasury Index and the Barclays US Aggregate Index increasing 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.
FLOWS
ETF flows topped $20BN in November. The Fixed Income category had a leading $4.5BN of inflows, increasing its year to date total net flows to $51.1BN. The Size-Mid Cap category attracted $3BN in inflows during the month of November.
Manager and Fund Detail
The top three managers in the US ETF marketplace were: BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard. Collectively, they account for approximately 83% of the US-listed ETF market.
The top three ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], iShares Russell 2000 [IWM] and PowerShares QQQ [QQQ].
The top three ETFs in terms of assets for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], SPDR Gold Shares [GLD] and Vanguard Emerging Markets [VWO].
Performance by Asset Class
International Developed increased 2.4% while Emerging Markets gained 1.3%. Domestic Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap markets were all positive, returning 0.6%, 2.2%, and 1.0%, respectively. The US Aggregate, the US Treasury and the US Corporate Bond markets were relatively flat. Commodities were up 1.5%.
For more information, including product fact sheets, related whitepapers or to read more visit www.spdrs.com.
Source: State Street Global Advisors
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement
December 12, 2012--Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in October suggests that economic activity and employment have continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months, apart from weather-related disruptions.
Although the unemployment rate has declined somewhat since the summer, it remains elevated. Household spending has continued to advance, and the housing sector has shown further signs of improvement, but growth in business fixed investment has slowed. Inflation has been running somewhat below the Committee’s longer-run objective, apart from temporary variations that largely reflect fluctuations in energy prices. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions. Furthermore, strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee also anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely will run at or below its 2 percent objective.
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Source: FRB
Gemini's Northern Lights Reach $10B In Assets Under Administration
Gemini's Services Spur Significant Growth For Clients
December 12, 2012--Gemini Fund Services, LLC (Gemini), an engaged partner to independent advisors as a provider of comprehensive, pooled investment solutions, is pleased to announce that Northern Lights shared trusts, which include Northern Lights Fund Trust I, II, III, Northern Lights ETF Trust and Northern Lights Variable Fund Trust, have collectively surpassed $10 billion in assets under administration.
"At a time when investors are showing strong interest in alternative investment vehicles, Gemini's shared trusts provide advisors with a cost-effective way to bring these funds to market," said Andrew Rogers , Chief Executive Officer of Gemini. "With our assistance, many of our clients have grown to such an extent that they have brought multiple funds to market. This asset milestone reflects the substantial progress our clients have made using the services we provide, as well as the increase in demand for the benefits that come with shared trust membership."
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Source: Gemini Fund
