ETF News Global Regions

FTSE Russell and Nomura partner to launch first factor-based indexes linked to World Government Bond Index (WGBI)

February 22, 2019--New FTSE Nomura Carry and Roll Down (CaRD) World Government Bond Index Series launches
Meets investor demand for a fixed income "Carry" factor-based index for sovereign debt
FTSE Russell partners with Nomura Securities to develop series
Select Japanese pensions first to adopt series with over USD 1bn allocation into index-tracking funds

Risk of 'Stranded Nations" Highlights Need for Sovereign Wealth Funds to Prepare for the Age of Green Energy

February 22, 2019--Despite having huge financial reserves, many fossil-fuel-rich economies are at risk of becoming "stranded nations" as efforts ramp up to avoid the worst effects of climate change and transition away from fossil fuels
With less than 0.2% of their $8 trillion assets invested in green or renewable energies, the world's sovereign wealth funds have a powerful role to play in helping prepare economies for the impending energy transition.

This week from the FTSE Russell Blog: Slowing global growth likely to test risk appetite

February 22, 2019--Fixed income cartography meets index methodology
Cartography, a fancy word to describe the design of maps, is similar to methodology, another fancy word that describes the design of indexes.

Derivatives Trading Costs Could Double

February 22, 2019--Derivatives trading costs could nearly double if volatility increases, which requires firms to ensure they have an efficient hedging strategy in place.

ETFGI reports assets invested in actively managed ETFs and ETPs listed globally rises to US$112 billion, highest on record

February 21, 2019--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm covering trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that actively managed ETFs and ETPs gathered net inflows of US$1.48 billion in January.

Global ETF Review 2018: Insights into a multi-trillion dollar industry

February 20, 2019--Quick read-Summary:
We launched the first edition of the quarterly BetaShares Global ETF Review-analysing the key trends & developments in the industry outside Australia.
The global ETF industry ended 2018 at US$4.8 trillion in assets under management (AuM), posting a robust annual growth rate of 20% since 2005.

Credit rating agencies turn attention to ESG risk

February 20, 2019--Credit rating agencies turn attention to ESG risk. Investors demand ethical analysis to help them avoid companies liable to crises.

Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are now getting hacked

February 19, 2019--More and more security holes are appearing in cryptocurrency and smart contract platforms, and some are fundamental to the way they were built.
arly last month, the security team at Coinbase noticed something strange going on in Ethereum Classic, one of the cryptocurrencies people can buy and sell using Coinbase's popular exchange platform.

Advisory fees push commissions further into the background

February 19, 2019--Fee-based advice is not perfect, but most clients prefer it over a commission-based option
When there's a financial professional in the picture, investors mostly prefer paying fees based on assets under management.

Price Tag for Sustainable Infrastructure Spending in Developing Countries is 4.5% of GDP

February 19, 2019--A new World Bank report finds that investments of 4.5 percent of GDP will allow developing countries achieve their infrastructure-related Sustainable Development Goals and stay on track to limit climate change to up to 2°C. Beyond the Gap, also finds infrastructure investment compatible with full decarbonization need not cost more than more polluting alternatives.

BIS-Over-the-counter market liquidity and securities lending

February 19, 2019--Summary
Focus
This paper studies how securities lending affects over-the-counter market (OTC) liquidity.
Contribution
The financial crisis of 2007-09 kindled a wider interest in studies of liquidity in OTC financial markets, such as the corporate bond market. Buyers and sellers in these markets trade without centralised exchanges. The greater time and resources needed to complete trades can impede market liquidity-the ability to transact efficiently.

Cryptoassets: Venture into the Unknown

February 18, 2019--Last year, investors watched as the prices of various cryptoassets collapsed. The industry's most famous digital asset, Bitcoin, lost roughly three quarters of its value, as it slid from more than $16,000 a coin to less than $4,000.

BetaShares-Buy the rumour

February 18, 2019--Week in Review
It was another positive week for global stocks, as ongoing encouraging talk about progress in US-China trade talks remained the gift that keeps on giving. Last week it was Trump's announced willingness to extend the March 1 deadline that boosted sentiment.

TradeWeb Trading Activity Starts The New Year Strong

February 18, 2019--Trading activity set a new record in January 2019 following the previous high set in December 2018. Average daily volume (ADV) for Tradeweb Markets of $624.5 billion (bn) across rates, credit, money markets and equities during the month was up 20.7 percent (%) year over year and average daily trades totaled 51,221.

BlackRock and Vanguard pull in 57% of global fund flows in 2018

February 17, 2019-- Chart of the week: index funds far outpaced active peers in a year defined by volatility
BlackRock and Vanguard together grabbed more than half of global net new inflows into long-term mutual funds in 2018, ratcheting up the pressure on the business models of smaller rivals.