Global ETF News Older than One Year
New WFE Research Discovers Climate Risk Premium in Commodity Options
May 13, 2025--The World Federation of Exchanges' (WFE) new research finds that climate risks are positively priced into commodity options-meaning investors are rewarded for the climate-related risk they bear in holding these assets.
The research also highlights a relationship between climate policy uncertainty and climate risk premiums: moderate levels of policy uncertainty increase climate risk premiums by unsettling market expectations, while extreme uncertainty, beyond a certain level, reduces climate risks premiums as traders and producers adopt a "wait and see" strategy.
The paper, "Climate Risk Premium: Evidence from Commodity Options", authored by Kaitao Lin, Xin Gao, Bingxin Li, and Rui Liu, is the first to document and quantify the existence of a climate risk premium using commodity options.
Source: world-exchanges.org
Mapped: Billion Dollar Companies by Country in 2025
May 12, 2025--Key Takeaways
The U.S. is home to 1,873 billion dollar firms by market cap, more than a third of the global total.
Japan ranks in second worldwide, at 404 billion dollar publicly-listed firms.
Since 2000, the number of companies in India valued at $1 billion or more has jumped from 20 to 348.
Globally, there are 5,522 publicly-listed firms valued at $1 billion or more.
While the U.S. commands the largest share, increasingly, a growing number of large firms are emerging out of India and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Underpinning this trend is strong economic growth, rising capital inflows, and favorable demographics.
Source: visualcapitalist.com
CoinEx Research April 2025 Report: Bitcoin and Gold Dual Safe Havens in a Shifting World
May 6, 2025-CoinEx Research's April 2025 Report: In early April, Bitcoin fell to $74,500 amid escalating U.S. tariff tensions. A dramatic policy shift on April 9, with Trump announcing a 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs and a 125% rate on Chinese imports, reignited market confidence.
Bitcoin surged over 14% for the month, peaking near $96,000 and outperforming major indices like the S&P 500. The appointment of Paul Atkins as SEC Chair added a regulatory tailwind, suggesting a potentially more favorable stance on crypto.
Source: CoinEx
World Bank Prospects Group Global Monthly-April 2025
April 30, 2025--Overview
In a context of rising trade tensions and heightened policy uncertainty, private sector forecasters have revised down near-term growth forecasts markedly.
Global financial market volatility spiked in April amid shifts in trade policy.
Commodity prices declined substantially, reflecting concerns about weakening demand and, in some cases, ample supply.
Special Focus: Synchronization of Business Cycles in EMDEs and the Rest of the World
Emerging market and developing economies' (EMDEs') increasing trade and financial integration with the rest of the world over recent decades has been accompanied by greater comovement of economic activity across EMDEs.
Although EMDEs' business cycles are increasingly synchronized, GDP growth in EMDEs still tends to be more correlated with growth in advanced economies (AEs).
Growth variation across economies can be attributed to three factors: a global factor capturing common cyclical movements across all economies; a group factor specific to AEs or EMDEs; and a factor specific to each economy. For EMDEs, the group factor has become increasingly important.
Source: worldbank.org
World Gold Council-Surging gold ETFs fuel Q1 demand
April 30, 2025--The World Gold Council's Q1 2025 Gold Demand Trends report reveals total quarterly gold demand (including OTC1) was 1,206t, a 1% increase year-on-year, in a record high price environment, in which gold surpassed US$3,000/oz.
The gold ETF revival fuelled a more-than doubling of total investment demand to 552t, a 170% year-on-year increase and the highest since Q1 2022. ETF inflows accelerated around the world, totalling 226t in the first quarter as price momentum and tariff policy uncertainty drove investors to gold as a safe haven.
Source: World Gold Council
Falling Commodity Prices Could Mute Inflation Risks from Trade Tensions
April 29, 2025--Overview
Global Commodity Prices Expected to Drop to Six-Year Low by 2026
Faltering economic growth is coinciding with ample oil supply in ways that are expected to drop global commodity prices to their lowest level of the 2020s, according to the World Bank's latest Commodity Markets Outlook.
The decline could moderate near-term inflation risks emerging from rising trade barriers, but it could also hamper prospects for economic progress in two out of every three developing economies.
Global commodity prices are expected to tumble 12% in 2025, and an additional 5% in 2026, falling to levels not seen since 2020. In nominal terms, prices would still be higher than they were before the start of the pandemic. Adjusted for inflation, however, they are likely to fall for the first time below the average that prevailed from 2015 through 2019. That would mark the end of a boom fueled by the global economy's rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Source: worldbank.org
Deloitte Releases 2025 Financial Services Industry Predictions Report
April 24, 2025-Disruptive forces including evolving market dynamics and technology advancement may reshape banking and capital markets, investment management, insurance, and commercial real estate by 2030
Deloitte today released its "2025 Financial Services Industry Predictions" series, which outlines some of the most significant emerging trends across the financial services industry over the next three to five years. These insights provide a glimpse into the future, focusing on the potential impact of new technology adoption, evolving business models, and emerging investment opportunities.
Deloitte is predicting shifts across the financial services industry, as providers adapt to evolving customer behavior and demands. Doubling down on customer-centricity and scaling advanced technologies could help financial services firms innovate and be poised for transformational growth.
Source: Deloitte
Flow Traders 1Q 2025 Trading Update
April 24, 2025--Flow Traders 1Q 2025 Trading Update
Flow Traders Ltd. (Euronext: FLOW) announces its unaudited 1Q 2025 trading update
Highlights
Flow Traders recorded Net Trading Income of €140.2m and Total Income of €135.1m in 1Q25, an increase of 10% and 4% when compared to €127.1m and €129.6m in 1Q24, respectively.
Flow Traders' ETP Value Traded increased by 24% in 1Q25 to €507bn from €409bn in 1Q24.
Fixed Operating Expenses were €50.8m in the quarter, an increase of 15% when compared to the €44.1m in 1Q24, due mostly to increased employee and technology expenses.
Source: flowtraders.com
Rising Global Debt Requires Countries to Put their Fiscal House in Order
April 23, 2025--Amid heightened uncertainty, policymakers will need to deal with complex trade-offs between debt, slower growth, and new spending pressures
Major policy shifts underway have heightened global uncertainty. The series of recent tariff announcements by the United States, and countermeasures by other countries have increased financial market volatility, weakened growth prospects, and increased risks.
They come in the context of rising debt levels in many countries and already strained public finances, which in many cases will also need to accommodate new and permanent increases in spending, such as defense. Rising yields in major economies and widening spreads in emerging markets further complicate the fiscal landscape.
We project global public debt to increase by 2.8 percentage points this year-more than twice the estimates for 2024-pushing debt levels above 95 percent of gross domestic product. This upward trend is likely to continue, with public debt nearing 100 percent of GDP by the end of the decade, surpassing pandemic levels.
Source: IMF.org
ETFGI reports record Q1 net inflows of US$463.51 billion into the global ETFs industry
April 22, 2025-ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm renowned for its expertise in subscription research, consulting services, events, and ETF TV on global ETF industry trends, reports record Q1 net inflows of US$463.51 billion into the global ETFs, according to ETFGI's March 2025 Global ETFs and ETPs industry landscape insights report, the monthly report which is part of an annual paid-for research subscription service.
Highlights
Record Q1net inflows of $463.51 Bn, while the second highest Q1 net inflows were $397.51 Bn in 2024 and the third highest Q1 net inflows were of $360.72 Bn in 2021.
Net inflows of $158.81 Bn during March.
70th month of consecutive net inflows.
Assets of $15.19 Tn invested in the ETFs industry globally at the end of March, below the record high assets of $15.50 Tn at the end of February 2025.
Assets increased 1.6% YTD in 2025, going from $14.85 Tn at end of 2024 to $15.19 Tn.
Source: ETFGI
