Global ETF News Older than One Year
Time to Move from FAANGs to SEPTICS?
May 28, 2018--A half-century ago, when investors fell in love with the "Nifty Fifty," the darling U.S. mega-caps of the era that many advised to buy and hold forever, they at least had the ability to choose from among companies spanning numerous industries (companies like PepsiCo, Schlumberger, Pfizer, etc., were in completely different businesses).
Not so with today's "nifty" group, the FAANGs: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google's parent, Alphabet. And being in or out of them will be critical for U.S. equity success in coming years.
Source: WisdomTree
New Alliance to Enhance Legal Protection along China's Belt and Road
May 28, 2018--Dubai International Financial Centre Courts (DIFC Courts) in tie-up with University of Oxford's China Centre to protect global business along the $5 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Half of Chinese companies trading on BRI face legal woes, according to recent survey.
The Dubai International Financial Centre's Dispute Resolution Authority (DRA), which incorporates the DIFC Courts, signed a unique memorandum with the University of Oxford's China Centre to pool expertise on the legal certainty, protection and contract enforcement needed for Chinese and international investors to secure participation in China's five trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
Source: DIFC
DECPG Global Weekly
May 25, 2018--TAKING STOCK
The U.S. composite PMI rose to a 3-month high in May; the Federal Reserve minutes signaled a June rate hike
The Euro Area composite PMI hit an 18-month low in May
Japan export growth accelerated in April; while the manufacturing PMI fell
China and the United States reached a temporarily deal to ease trade tensions
Most EMDE currencies stabilized, but Argentina’s peso and Turkey's lira continued to fall
Source: World Bank
IMF Policy Papers-The Core Principles for Islamic Finance Regulations and Assessment Methodology
May 24, 2018--This paper provides a proposal to incorporate the Core Principles for Islamic Finance Regulation (Banking Sector) (CPIFR) issued by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), as part of the standards used in assessing the banking regulatory and supervisory regimes of relevant member jurisdictions under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) and the Reports on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSCs).
The CPIFR largely reflects the order of the Basel Core Principles on Effective Banking Supervision (BCP), with five additional principles that are specific to Islamic banking operations. Thus, for countries that have systemically significant Islamic banking sector, the assessment of the banking regulation and supervision regime of the jurisdiction would be against the CPIFR (for fully Islamic banking systems) or BCP and the five additional core principles under the CPIFR (for dual banking systems). The Fund staff is seeking the endorsement of the Executive Board on this proposal.
Source: IMF
Deutsche Bank Says It Will Cut at Least 7,000 Jobs in Revamp
May 24, 2018--Lender to reduce headcount by a quarter at equities business
Bank says results this year affected by restructuring charge.
The reductions will take the number of jobs at the Frankfurt-based lender to well below 90,000 and lead to a restructuring charge of as much as 800 million euros ($935 million) this year, it said in a statement on Thursday ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.
Source: Bloomberg
Top banks' first quarter commodities revenue jumps 48 percent: report
May 23, 2018--Commodities-related revenue at the 12 biggest investment banks in the first quarter jumped 48 percent year on year driven by the U.S. energy sector and commodity indices, consultancy Coalition said on Thursday.
Revenue from commodity trading, selling derivatives to investors and other activities in the sector climbed to $1.2 billion, the financial industry analytics firm said in a report.
Source: Reuters
Cryptocurrency prices are all in the mind
May 23, 2018--Research suggests investor mood swings only factor in fluctuating prices
The volatility of cryptocurrencies has become something of a joke. The fact its value bounces around like a kangaroo in a clown car has given rise to countless memes about the emotional toll of being an investor.
A cryptocurrency's price depends on a number of factors, at least according to the exchanges they are traded on. There's supply and demand, the energy required to secure the blockchain...
n Or maybe it's all just perception. According to new research from the UK's University of Warwick Business School cryptocurrency prices are not influenced by any economic factors and are instead "driven purely by the mood swing of investors".
Source: www.cio.com
First Bridge Data-ETF Global Snapshot-May 2018
May 22, 2018--Key Highlights
Global ETF assets crossed the $5T threshold, a key milestone for the industry.
Rising crude oil prices resulted in energy heavy large cap Russian stocks ('RSX') outperforming Russian small caps ('RSXJ').
Aberdeen Standard announced the acquisition of ETF Securities' ETF business in the US.
There were 14 new ETF listings in the US in April 2018, with 8 of them being active
(non-indexed) ETFs. There were 127 new ETF listings outside the US in the month.
US small caps ('IWM') were the best performing of six major asset classes in the
trailing 1-month through May 18, 2018.
Source: First Bridge Data
More Governments Taking Up Carbon Pricing and Seeing Big Benefits in Revenues: World Bank Report
May 22, 2018--In 2017, Governments Raised About $33 Billion In Carbon Pricing Revenue, a 50% increase from 2016
Governments at national and subnational levels around the world continue to prepare for, and implement, carbon pricing initiatives as a means to curb their emissions while raising revenues, a new World Bank report finds.
Launched at the Innovate4Climate conference in Frankfurt, the annual State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018 report shows that carbon pricing continues to gain traction. This edition of the report also includes emerging trends as countries negotiate the guidelines of the Paris Agreement, in the run-up to the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
view moreview the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018 report
Source: World Bank
Introducing the EDHEC-Princeton Retirement Goal-Based Investing Index Series-an answer to the retirement problem
May 21, 2018-- With the growing need to supplement public and private retirement benefits with voluntary contributions, individuals are becoming increasingly responsible for their own retirement savings and investment decisions.
This global trend poses substantial challenges to individuals, who typically lack the expertise required to make such complex financial decisions. Unfortunately, current investment products such as target date funds that are often used as default options in retirement accounts, hardly provide a solution to investors' and households' replacement income needs in retirement.
In a new publication entitled "Applying Goal-Based Investing Principles to the Retirement Problem", EDHEC-Risk Institute and Professor John Mulvey of the Operations Research & Financial Engineering Department at Princeton University outline the shortcomings of existing retirement products, and lay the academic foundations for a new generation of risk-controlled target date funds.
view the Applying Goal-Based Investing Principles to the Retirement Problem research paper
Source: EDHEC-Risk Institute
