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Russell flop sparks fear of ETF malaise
September 3, 2012--In early 2010, Russell Investments, the fund manager and compiler of market indices, hired two stars of the exchange-traded fund industry who had pioneered the cheap index tracking products at the iShares franchise.
Following the likes of BlackRock and State Street, Russell was betting that investors would seek nimble strategies to trade in and out of markets after the financial crisis. Barely two years later, Russell has announced the closure of its passive funds business.
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Source: FT.com
ISE Weekly Listings August 31, 2012
August 31, 2012--The International Securities Exchange listed new options classes during the week beginning August 27, 2012 as described below.
Effective Monday, August 27, 2012, the ISE listed options on the following product(s) along with their related symbol(s):
Bin 10 - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
Equity
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (Symbol: WFR, Trading Symbol(s): WFR) will trade on a January expiration cycle with exercise and position limits of 250000.
Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update ALPS and RiverFront Lower Fees and Add a New Income Fund read more SEC Issues Risk Alert on "Pay-To-Play" Prohibitions Under MSRB Rules
Compliance with the rule’s ban on doing business with a municipal issuer within two years of a political contribution to officials of the issuer by any of the firm’s municipal finance professionals
Possible recordkeeping violations
read more Preliminary Annual Report on U.S. Holdings of Foreign Securities read more .S. Department of the Treasury TIC Annual and Benchmark Surveys Update Fee Rate Advisory #7 for Fiscal Year 2013 read more
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke At The Federal Reserve Bank Of Kansas City Economic Symposium
Today I will review the evolution of U.S. monetary policy since late 2007. My focus will be the Federal Reserve's experience with nontraditional policy tools, notably those based on the management of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and on its public communications. I'll discuss what we have learned about the efficacy and drawbacks of these less familiar forms of monetary policy, and I'll talk about the implications for the Federal Reserve's ongoing efforts to promote a return to maximum employment in a context of price stability.
read more Hedge Funds Cleared to Advertise Under SEC Proposal read more
August 31, 2012--The current reports for the week of August 28, 2012 are now available.
Source: CFTC.gov
RiverFront Conservative Income Builder Fund the Newest Addition to the ALPS Investment Lineup
August 31, 2012--A DST Company announced a 0.15% fee reduction for three of the RiverFront Global Allocation Series
mutual funds effective as of August 31, 2012.
As part of a new expense limitation agreement between ALPS, RiverFront, the RiverFront Moderate Growth and Income Fund, RiverFront Global
Allocation Fund and RiverFront Dynamic Equity Income Fund, investors will benefit from reduced expenses. The new agreement caps expenses at 0.90%, not inclusive of distribution or service fees, acquired fund fees, taxes, brokerage commissions, and ordinary expenses. Previously, expenses had
been capped at 1.05%.
Source: ALPS
August 31, 2012--The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued an alert to strengthen compliance with a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rule that limits political contributions by municipal securities professionals to campaigns of public officials of issuers with whom they are doing or seek to do business.
The Risk Alert issued by the agency’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations notes that SEC examiners have observed practices that raise concerns about firms’ compliance with their obligations under MSRB Rule G-37, which clamped down on so-called “pay to play” practices. These concerns include:
Source: SEC.gov
August 31, 2012--Preliminary data from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2011 were released today.Final survey results, which will include additional detail as well as revisions to the data, will be reported on October 31, 2012.
The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
A complementary survey measuring foreign holdings of U.S. securities also is conducted annually. Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held on June 30, 2012, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 28, 2013.
Overall Preliminary Results
The survey measured the value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2011 of approximately $6.8 trillion, with $4.5 trillion held in foreign equities, $2.0 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.
Source: US Department of the Treasury
August 31, 2012--The preliminary data from the annual survey on U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities at End-year 2011 is available.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
August 31, 2012--The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that in fiscal year 2013 the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the Commission will be set at $136.40 per million dollars.
The Commission determined this new rate in accordance with procedures required under the securities laws. Accordingly, the Commission consulted with both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget regarding the annual adjustment.
Source: SEC.gov
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, August 31, 2012-- Monetary Policy Since The Onset Of The Crisis
When we convened in Jackson Hole in August 2007, the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) target for the federal funds rate was 5-1/4 percent.
Sixteen months later, with the financial crisis in full swing, the FOMC had lowered the target for the federal funds rate to nearly zero, thereby entering the unfamiliar territory of having to conduct monetary policy with the policy interest rate at its effective lower bound. The unusual severity of the recession and ongoing strains in financial markets made the challenges facing monetary policymakers all the greater.
Source: FRB
August 30, 2012--Hedge funds may go from soliciting individual investors behind closed doors to conducting wide advertising campaigns without restrictions under a rule proposed today by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC commissioners voted 4-1 to invite public comment on a proposal for how to end decades of limits on the pursuit of investors by private funds and startups. The proposal is driven by a law that repealed a ban on pitching such investments to all but a select few investors, such as those accustomed to pumping cash into hedge funds.
Source: Bloomberg
