Europe ETF News for the Past Year
ECB making good progress but job not done, Lane says
August 24, 2024--The European Central Bank is making "good progress" in cutting inflation back to its 2% target but success is not yet assured, so restrictive monetary policy is still needed, ECB chief economist Philip Lane said on Saturday.
The ECB cut interest rates for the first time in June after a record string of hikes, and policymakers are widely expected to cut again on Sept. 12, taking the deposit rate to 3.5%, a level that remains high enough to put a brake on growth.
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Source: reuters.com
Robeco starts 'strategic hiring' ahead of entry into ETF market
August 23, 2024--An increasing number of active managers are entering the ETF space in Europe ahead of an expected surge in demand
Robeco is building a specialist sales team ahead of its entrance into the exchange traded funds market this year.
The Dutch fund house has advertised for a UK sales manager for ETFs, who will be based in London, and plans to hire up to five more sales specialists in continental Europe in early 2025.
The UK sales manager will be responsible for "promoting the firm's ETF products to UK clients, creating awareness of this new capability and driving sales", according to the job listing.
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Source: ft.com
ECB-Meeting of 17-18 July 2024-Account of the monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank
August 22, 2024--Held in Frankfurt am Main on Wednesday and Thursday, 17-18 July 2024
1. Review of financial, economic and monetary developments and policy options
Financial market developments
Ms Schnabel noted that since the Governing Council's previous monetary policy meeting on 5-6 June 2024, financial markets had moved in response to political news, which had caused some volatility, and in response to weaker than expected US inflation data.
The announcement of snap elections in France had dented investors' risk appetite and the rally in euro area risk asset markets. However, the resulting rise in volatility in some market segments had remained contained and short-lived, without signs of systemic stress or fragmentation. Risk premia had risen only modestly, and the euro exchange rate had recovered quickly.
Macroeconomic news had been muted, with small negative macroeconomic surprises in both the euro area and the United States. Expectations regarding ECB policy rates had remained broadly unchanged amid some volatility following the elections for the European Parliament, but had edged lower after the release of US consumer price index (CPI) data. Euro area financial conditions had also remained broadly unchanged, with continued benign market conditions. The absorption of the net issuance of government bonds had continued to proceed smoothly as investor demand remained strong.
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Source: ECB
ESMA publishes translations of its Guidelines on funds' names
August 21, 2024--The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today published the translations in all official EU languages of its Guidelines on funds' names using ESG or sustainability-related terms.
The Guidelines will start applying three months after this publication, i.e. on 21 November 2024.
Within two months of the date of publication of the Guidelines, i.e. on 21 October 2024, national competent authorities must notify ESMA whether they (i) comply, (ii) do not comply, but intend to comply, or (iii) do not comply and do not intend to comply with the guidelines.
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Source: ESMA
Bitwise Takes Over ETC Group - Home To Europe's Largest Bitcoin Fund
August 19, 2024--In a strategic move to expand its presence in Europe and the broader crypto industry, asset manager and Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Bitwise Investment has sealed a deal to acquire ETC Group, a major crypto issuer headquartered in London.
Bitwise Doubles Down On Institutional Bitcoin
While specific terms of the transaction remain undisclosed, Bitwise announced on Monday that following the finalization of the deal, the San Francisco-based company will be entrusted with managing a substantial $4.5 billion in assets.
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Source: bitcoinist.com
European fund performance significantly lags behind US peers after T+1
August 19, 2024--Post T+1 analyses of passive S&P 500 funds show European returns are 14-20 basis points lower than their US equivalents
Lower returns for European funds investing in US equities compared with US-domiciled funds with similar portfolios are accelerating demand among asset managers for the EU to cut fund settlement times..
Ignites Europe analysis of Morningstar data suggests the change may be having a negative effect for European investors, bearing out warnings from asset management executives on differences in settlement times between Europe and the US.
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Source: ft.com
JP Morgan Asset Management promotes Travis Spence to head of global ETFs
August 16, 2024--Alongside distribution responsibilities
JP Morgan Asset Management has promoted Travis Spence to the role of global head of ETFs, effective immediately.
In the new role, he will lead the ETF product development, capital markets and the newly formed ETF insights team, while retaining his responsibilities as head of ETF distribution in EMEA.
Based in London, Spence will report to CIO and global head of asset management solutions Jed Laskowitz.
He has spent 20 years at JPMAM, holding roles such as head of EMEA ETF distribution, international head of fixed income investment specialist, and head of the global liquidity Asia business.
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Source: investmentweek.co.uk
ETFs' huge appetite extends to SMAs
August 12, 2024--Conversions of separately managed accounts are taking place in both the US and Europe, suggesting demand is growing
The ballooning exchange traded fund industry is threatening to take a bite out of separately managed accounts, having already eaten the lunch of the mutual fund sector.
Since the start of 2021 mutual funds have suffered outflows of more than $1tn in the US even as flashy upstart ETFs have pulled in $2tn, according to figures from Morningstar. ETFs have also gained market share in Europe and Asia, albeit at a slower pace. This has prompted a flurry of mutual fund-to-ETF conversions as asset managers have pivoted towards the ascendant fund structure.
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Source: ft.com
ESMA publishes latest edition of its newsletter
August 8, 2024--The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today published its latest editionof the Spotlight on Markets Newsletter.
Your one-stop-shop in the world of EU financial markets focuses in July on the latest developments in relation to the Regulation on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
ESMA published an opinion on global crypto firms using their non-EU execution venues. Under DORA, the European Supervisory Authorities published the second batch of policy products and the Final report on the draft technical standards on subcontracting ICT services and have announced the EU systemic cyber incident coordination framework.
On a different note, ESMA set out its long-term vision on the functioning of the Sustainable Finance Framework and published the results of its fifth stress test exercise for Central Counterparties.
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Source: esma.europa.eu
Vanguard's latest monthly summary of flows in the European ETF market-Equity and bond ETFs both see inflows in July
August 8, 2024--Equity and fixed income ETF exposures both saw inflows in July during what was a mixed month for financial markets.
European-domiciled ETFs attracted $22.9 billion of assets in July, with equity and fixed income products seeing $12.3 billion and $11.0 billion in flows respectively.
The Vanguard UCITS ETF range captured net inflows of $3.2 billion in July, with the majority of ETFs in the range recording positive flows.
Monthly recap: A mixed month for markets as both equity and bond ETFs see inflows
July was a mixed month for financial markets. During the first half of the month, continued optimism around US growth pushed equity markets higher. Later in July, concerns around company earnings in the technology sector and the publication of weak economic data in the US fuelled a more risk-off sentiment.
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Source: Vanguard
