Global ETF News Older than One Year
G20 GDP Growth-First quarter of 2015, OECD
G20 GDP growth slows slightly to 0.7% in first quarter of
June 11, 2015--Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the G20 area grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2015, slightly down from 0.8% in the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates. However, patterns diverged across countries.
Among G20 economies, GDP contracted in Canada (by 0.1%), the United States (by 0.2%),and Brazil (by 0.2%), following positive growth of 0.6%, 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively, in the previous quarter. GDP growth also eased significantly in South Africa (to 0.3%, compared with 1.0% in the previous quarter), and to a lesser extent in Mexico (to 0.4%, compared with 0.7% in the previous quarter), Germany and the United Kingdom (to 0.3%, down from 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively, in the previous quarter). In China and Indonesia, GDP growth slowed slightly (to 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively, compared with 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively, in the previous quarter).
Source: OECD
MSCI Says Market Access Holds Key to China's A Shares
June 11, 2015--The firm is working with Chinese authorities to address access issues and pave the way for including A shares in MSCI's EM index.
China's booming A-share market and capital market reforms got a mixed review earlier this week as MSCI announced that the country would have to provide greater market access to foreign investors before it would include mainland-listed stocks in its benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Source: Institutional Investor
The 48% slump in SPDR holdings shows gold is out of favour
Assets in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded product slumped to the lowest since the start of the financial crisis.
June 11, 2015--Assets in the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded product slumped to the lowest since the start of the financial crisis as equities rallied and investors prepared for the onset of higher U.S. interest rates, hurting demand.
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust dropped 0.2 percent to 704.22 metric tons on Wednesday, the lowest level since September 2008.
Source: MineWeb
DMS-Deciphering Developing Markets-Emerging Markets: India to revamp labour laws
June 11, 2015--Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now turned his attention to the antiquated labour laws that have seriously hindered the manufacturing sector in India. He will need to do so if he wants his signature programme "Make in India" to be a success.
Currently, any factory that has more than 100 workers needs permission from the government in order to lay anyone off. Of course, the government hardly ever grants that permission, so a lot of factories just don't hire that 100th person. Sound familiar? Mr. Modi has proposed that the 100 worker limit be raised to 300. He also proposes making it harder for unions to organize workers, or for the workers to go on strike.
Source: Peter Kohli of DMS for Nasdaq.com
Competition hots up among fixed income ETF brokers
June 10, 2015--Liquidity-starved bond investors are pouring money into fixed income exchange-traded funds
fuelling competition between broker dealers as they ramp up their market making businesses in the asset class.
Source: Financial News
Overberg Asset Management-This week's bottom line...
June 10, 2015--The emerging markets displaying the weakest currency fundamentals include Brazil, SA and Turkey, dubbed the "Threatened Three".
Countries with high current account deficits are especially vulnerable.
Among emerging markets SA has the largest deficit measuring 5.1% of GDP in the fourth quarter last year.
On the last six occasions when the Fed started tightening interest rates portfolio capital inflows into emerging markets either diminished or reversed.
SA's vulnerability is increased by the scale of foreign ownership of its financial assets. SA's bond market has the highest level of foreign ownership out of all emerging markets with the sole exception of Indonesia.
Source: Overberg Asset Management
Success of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect Hinges on Removing Barriers to Participation-According to Study
June 10, 2015--Launched in November, this path-breaking initiative provides international investors with direct access to China's A shares market for the first time
Continued participation among investors, brokers and custodians is a key focus area to ensure program achieves its goals
Market participants need to ensure their post-trade systems and operations can scale up to meet increased volumes and that best practice is employed to minimize operational risk
download the whitepaper-Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect: It's Just the Beginning
Source: DTCC
BP-Statistical Review of World Energy 2015
June 10, 2015--2014 in review
Global primary energy consumption decelerated sharply in 2014, even though global economic growth was similar to 2013
Consumption increased for all fuels, reaching record levels for every fuel type except nuclear power; production increased for all fuels except coal. For oil and natural gas, global consumption growth was weaker than production.
The data suggest that global CO2 emissions from energy grew at their slowest rate since 1998, other than in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis.
Emerging economies accounted for all of the net growth in energy consumption, as they have on average over the past decade, although growth in these countries was well below its 10-year average. Chinese consumption growth was the slowest since 1998, yet China still recorded the world's largest increment in primary energy consumption for the fourteenth consecutive year. OECD consumption experienced a larger than average decline, with weakness in the EU and Japan offsetting above average growth in the US. Energy consumption in the EU fell to its lowest level since 1985.
Source: BP
World Bank-Developing Countries Face Tough Transition in 2015 with Higher Borrowing Costs and Lower Prices for Oil & Other Commodities
Impending rise in US interest rates could reduce capital flows, spur financial market volatility in developing countries
June 10, 2015--Developing countries face a series of tough challenges in 2015, including the looming prospect of higher borrowing costs as they adapt to a new era of low prices for oil and other key commodities, resulting in a fourth consecutive year of disappointing economic growth this year, says the World Bank Group's latest Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, released today.
As a result, developing countries are now projected to grow by 4.4 percent this year, with a likely rise to 5.2 percent in 2016, and 5.4 percent in 2017.
view the June 2015 Global Economic Prospects-The Global Economy in Transition
view the infographic-Global Economy in Transition
Source: World Bank
State Street Names Michael Ho for Push Into Hedge Funds
June 10, 2015--Michael Ho, who heads active emerging market stock investing for State Street Corp.'s asset-management arm, will lead the unit's expansion into alternatives.
State Street Global Advisors named Ho to the newly created position of chief investment officer for alternatives, confirmed Brendan Paul, a spokesman for the Boston-based bank. Ho will oversee a team that will manage hedge fund strategies for institutions and intermediaries, Paul said.
Source: Bloomberg
