The Fed is Fed Up re Rates Talk…or at least they must be, according to MarketsMuse pundits who have frequently guessed wrong within the context of how much and when the FOMC will decide to upend the current interest rate regime and return to normal. Below excerpt is courtesy of expert debt capital market commentary published 21 Sept 2016 under the banner “Quigley’s Corner”–a daily note delivered to institutional fixed income portfolio managers and Fortune corporate treasurer clients of Mischler Financial Group, a minority broker-dealer and the sell-side’s oldest boutique investment bank/institutional brokerage owned/operated by service-disabled veterans…
It was a no print day today as corporate debt issuers respected both the impact of the BoJ and FOMC.
Not so fast my friends…..not so fast! It’s not exactly a “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment. Still, let’s call it like it is folks – I did say “the next best thing to having tomorrow’s newspaper today is the ‘QC’”. Then on Monday, September 19th and alluding to today’s BoJ and FOMC rate decisions, I wrote, “Fed Holds; BoJ Cuts Rate and Then Some.” Well, I guess it’s not “tomorrow’s newspaper today” but I still think it’s the “next best thing to it.” The Fed Held, the BoJ introduced new fringy though convoluted easing details (“and then some”) but the BoJ kept rates unchanged. Two out of three isn’t bad, but that’s why it’s “the next best thing.” If I played baseball, I’d be in the Hall of Fame with a .666 average. Joking aside, a Fed that infers raising rates by December should have hiked rates today, but they didn’t. This is more of the same readers. Look for Fed members – both voting and non-voting – to continue giving speeches and appearing on television to opine about the rate flux that has restricted so many from doing so much. The street is the leader; the Fed is the ultimate laggard. It’s how it is. Today was more of the same. No surprise at all. The government should consider issuing a gag order on any and all Fed-speak in between meetings for all members, both voting and non-voting. They only confuse the situation and shock markets.
First up, let’s look at what the BoJ did while we were in REM sleep this morning:
A Big Red Zero – Land of the Rising “None” as BoJ Keeps Rates at <0.1%> & Introduces More Shifts to Policy
Central Banks from the FOMC to the BOE and from the ECB to the BoJ all seem to be pointing to the downside risks to continued rate cuts while at the same time highlighting that monetary policy needs to be substantially accommodative while calling on governments to share more of the economic burdens. Here’s what’s clear: growth is anemic to non-existent, inflation unchanged to nowhere, accommodative policies are manifesting themselves in new policy twists and turns and big government needs to get more involved. Hmmm…..sounds like things aren’t quite working out, eh?
Here are the talking points from this morning’s BoJ announcement:
o The BoJ left interest rates at its still record low <0.1%>.
o Committed to intervene until inflation reaches 2% and remains stable above that level.
o Will cap 10-year yields at 0.00% by continuing to buy 10yr JGBs implying that the BoJ must continue intervening to prevent borrowing costs from rising and to ensure that it can borrow for a decade for free.
o Changed its policy from a focus on a base money target to controlling the yield curve.
oPledged to maintain its government bond-buying in line with ¥80 trillion annually while buying fewer long-dated maturities hoping to pump up long-term interest rates thereby helping banks boost profits. There was no expansion of its current quantitative easing program.
Will this new approach be effective? Only time will tell. It certainly is a shift in monetary policy to control the yield curve. It is NOT a bazooka by any stretch and more like “fiddling around the edges.” As for the 2.00% target? Folks, we all know that’s a loooong way off. Market participants have a lot of questions with many sharing that the “BoJ should’ve just cut rates again.” Equity markets loved the news. The DOW closed up 163, the S&P was in the black 23, the VIX compressed over 2.5 and CDX27 tightened 3.2 bps.
“Fed” Up with Rates, FOMC Holds; November Increase Has No Chance Pre- Election and Santa Claus is Coming to Town…with Coal?
The Fed held rates albeit the subsequent press conference was more optimistic, if one can call it that, saying the economy appeared “slightly balanced” and “the case for an increase in the fed funds rate strengthened but decided, for the time being to wait for further evidence of continued progress toward its objectives.” You all know about the myriad global event risk factors out there. There are so many that on any given day in our inextricably global-linked world economy, should one or several of them get worse, which is entirely plausible-to-likely, the Fed can skirt around a hike by once again pointing to global events, as they have in the past, to justify standing down. In fact, in its statement Chair Yellen said, “we will closely monitor inflation and global developments.” What’s more, the next FOMC meeting will be held on November 1srt and 2nd and is not associated with a Summary of Economic Projections or a press conference by Yellen. It is highly unlikely that the Fed raises rates in November given that the meeting will take places 6 days before one our nation’s most tumultuous and raucous elections. Last year saw one rate hike to close out 2015 at its December meeting. Santa Claus will be coming to town early at the year’s last meeting of 2016 held December 13th-14th …………..but don’t be surprised to find coal in the stocking.
Folks, Q3 is about over. You hear that sound? That’s the sound of trucks? They’re backing up to print between now and Election Day – BIG TIME. 12 IG issuers are in the pipeline with a whole lot of M&A deals getting closer.
Here’s All You Want and Need to Know About Today’s Fed Decision
If History is Any Guide….more than one “markets muse” should be running for cover, faster than if they found themselves strolling the streets of NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood this past Saturday evening. And, one global macro muse is extending that warning..
Stock market technicians, i.e. those who hang their hats on technical analysis and the notion that history tends to repeats during select times of the year should take note of the following statistics; if history is any guide, professional traders should sell every rally, now!
Neil Azous, Rareview Macro
Why? Aside from the fact that the month of September is notorious for market tops and arguably, the most damaging sell-offs in US equity markets followed soon thereafter, the month of October in years ’29, ’87, ’91, , ’01* ‘ and 08 to cite just a few), professional chartists are reminded by a illuminating observation courtesy of global macro guru Neil Azous in the a.m. notes published by Rareview Macro’s “Sight Beyond Sight”:
Gann Day: Per legendary Wall Street trader W.D. Gann, September 22nd is the date markets top more frequently than any day of year. This year that date coincides with the Fed and BoJ meetings on Sep 21st. Stock Trader’s Almanac : S&P 500 down 22 of 26 during week after September options expiration, average loss 1.08% (Full Stats HERE, @AlmanacTrader)
S&P 500 Seasonality: This week is the 38th week of the year. This is the worst week of the year since 1950 and the S&P 500 has been down 7 of past 8 years. Last week was Sept Options Expiration. Since 1990, the week after this has higher only 4 times past 26 years. Higher only 15.4%, lowest for any week of year.
Those having glasses half full, or those whose glasses use bifocal lenses might argue “even a broken clock is right twice a day, that doesn’t mean lightening strikes at the same place at the same time..” will discount the above. On the other hand, “Many People Are Saying” that those who are familiar with fall stock market falls will want to follow Azous on Twitter, or better and smarter still, those who are global macro aficionados should grab themselves a subscription to Sight Beyond Sight byclicking this link.
Virtu Says NO to Corporate Bond ETF risk-taking; Top Market-Maker Opines “Unable to Hedge ETF Constituents Due To Limited Liqudity”
During the better part of three years, MarketsMuse Fixed Income curators have often pointed to concerns expressed by market professionals who argue that the unfettered growth of corporate bond ETFs are masking the inevitable likelihood that once interest rates begin to rise, buy side fund managers fearful of mark-downs in their corporate bond positions will push the ‘sell button’ en masse to limit the P&L hit. Those in the camp expressing such concerns, which includes Virtu Financial, one of the most successful electronic market-makers in the industry, believe that such a mass exodus will wreak havoc on the now $8.4 trillion US corporate bond ecosystem* (*data according to Sifma), where new issuance for 2016 has just surpassed 1 Trillion dollars, and is a marketplace that since 2011 alone, has grown nearly 50% in terms of notional value and number of outstanding issues.
Per one senior market risk expert familiar with the thinking at Virtu, “Their’s isn’t simply a view typically attributed to academics, who have increasingly warned and have been equally derided by ETF lobbyists for suggesting a secondary market meltdown in corporate bond ETF products is inevitable when rates rise. Instead, Virtu has concluded that for those who make a business of ‘taking the other side’ of corporate bond exchange-traded funds, whether investment grade (e.g $LQD) or high yield themed (e.g $HYG), will find themselves playing a game of musical chairs, but there will be no chairs available for anyone when the music stops and traders will find themselves unable to find any liquidity in the respective ETF underlying constituents.”
Below opening excerpt from mainstream media outlet Bloomberg LP and reported by Bloomberg reporter Annie Massa:
One of the world’s largest electronic market makers won’t touch increasingly popular corporate bond ETF products because the underlying securities are too hard to trade.
Although New York-based Virtu Financial Inc. buys and sells everything from stocks to government bonds and futures on more than 235 exchanges around the world, it shuns products linked to corporate bonds like the $15 billion iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF. The reason, according to Chief Executive Officer Doug Cifu, is that it’s too hard for Virtu to precisely hedge the trades.
“It’s definitely concerning you don’t have full and unfettered access to the underlying,” Cifu said, speaking at a Security Traders Association conference in Washington on Thursday. “That’s troubling.”
During the fourth quarter of 2015, TABB Group interviewed key US corporate bond market participants across buy-side, sell-side and specialized trade service providers.Across all segments covered within the survey, participants’ responses reflected dim expectations for liquidity available in the US corporate bond market for 2016. Apart from the threat of a “large scale macro crisis,” the most serious threat that participants identified was the ongoing decline in immediacy (balance sheet) provided by dealers.
Worldwide assets in bond ETFs have surged in recent years, jumping fivefold since January 2010 to about $600 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About 88 million shares of fixed-income ETFs have traded daily in the U.S. during the past 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Other market makers including Citadel Securities and Susquehanna do trade the ETFs, but Virtu’s absence is notable given how dominant the company is in other areas. Cifu said Virtu does trade ETFs containing U.S. Treasuries, including the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury.
Virtu’s strategy involves arbitraging price difference in related assets, quickly entering and exiting the positions. With fixed-income ETFs, the company is concerned it can’t get access to the related bonds fast enough. Market makers with longer trading time frames may be less reluctant. Virtu’s line of thinking echoes worries elsewhere in the industry. Shares of the funds are often easier to trade than their underlying bonds, potentially posing a risk if there’s a sudden rush for the exit.
“What’s Next? Well, for those familiar with Patrick Byrne, the controversial and innovative founder of Overstock.com, one of the first online retailers to embrace the use of bitcoins, it should not be a surprise that Overstock’s chief honcho would ‘get the joke’ and realize its all about the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrency applications, known as distributed ledger. While bitcoin currency continues to encounter challenges in terms of mass embracement, the real grease that makes the makes the wheels turn is under the hood. With that, Overstock subsidiary “T0” (T-zero) is taking a page from both the industry consortium formed by R3 and the Senahill-backed Symbiont –both of which target institutional capital markets usage–and aiming it’s own sights on retail investors by setting to launch an equities-centric Alternative Trading System aka ATS powered by their own blockchain formula.
A distributed ledger is a consensus of replicated, shared, and synchronized digital data geographically spread across multiple sites, countries, and/or institutions.
A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger, comprised of unchangable, digitally recorded data in packages called blocks.
Rob Daly of MarketsMedia (not related to MarketsMuse) provides the scoop..
Online retailer Overstock.com expects trading to begin on its blockchain-based alternative trading system before the end of the year, according to company officials.
The ATS will be operated by Overstock.com subsidiary TO as part of the company’s Medici Project, and it will only handle trades in the company stock, at least at first. So while it’s not an immediate competitive threat to the existing field of 13 U.S. stock exchanges plus several dozen ATSs, the initiative will be closely watched as a gauge of the potential of distributed-ledger technology in capital markets.
The ATS will write completed trades to its blockchain instead of routing them to the National Securities Clearing Corp., a subsidiary of Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., for clearing.
Overstock.com plans to prime the liquidity on the ATS through a new issue of corporate shares to existing shareholders the day before trading commences on the new trading venue.
Judd Bagley
T0 officials plan to formally announce its partnership with a broker-dealer on Sept. 12. “For those who want to trade on the ATS, they will have to create an account with the broker-dealer,” said Overstock’s man-in-charge Judd Bagley, who declined to name the brokerage firm.
If you’ve got a hot tip, a bright idea, or if you’d like to get visibility for your firm through MarketsMuse via subliminal content marketing, advertorial, blatant shout-out, spotlight article, etc., please reach out to our Senior Editor
Investors will be able to select from multiple “very vanilla” order types, which are still in development, he added. T0 may use a so-called maker-taker rebate model to encourage liquidity, but officials have not made a final decision.
The new trading venue is a mix of internally developed technology and the technology T0 acquired with its purchase of order-routing firm SpeedRoute in October 2015. T0 built its matching engine internally as well as the necessary interfaces to the rest of the U.S. equity marketplace.
The company, in conjunction with Bay-area consultancy PeerNova, also developed a proprietary blockchain architecture for the ATS instead of using Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Ripple.
To continue reading the story from MarketsMedia, please click here
Just when you were about to ask “What’s the next type of exchange-traded fund that nobody else has come up with?, PureFunds has launched a fintech ETF!
If you’re not familiar with the phrase ‘fintech’, you’re likely not qualified to put assets into this latest exchange-traded fund that specializes in one of the hottest trends-financial technology companies.
Caveat: According to 4 Pinocchio star winner Donald Trump, “Many people are saying..” that “fintech” is a phrase associated with start-up companies focused on delivering innovative software applications used to streamline financial industry centric services. The fact is that ‘fintech’ is a term that is applied to the full gamut of companies that specialize in financial industry technology solutions, as evidenced by the criteria for constituents within PureFunds latest ETF product, Solcative Fintech ETF (FINQ).
“FINQ allows investors to invest in this fast-growing segment of the industry without having to select individual companies. The rules- based index approach allows us to capture exposure to companies at the forefront of innovation in the financial industry.”
But don’t just take our word for it, below is the press release that just crossed the tape..
SUMMIT, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ETF Managers Group in partnership with PureFunds today debuted their newest fund, the PureFunds Solactive FinTech ETF (FINQ).
“FINQ allows investors to invest in this fast-growing segment of the industry without having to select individual companies. The rules- based index approach allows us to capture exposure to companies at the forefront of innovation in the financial industry.”
Trading on the NASDAQ, the fintech ETF “FINQ” invests in global companies disrupting the multi-trillion dollar financial industry by offering technology-based solutions designed to revolutionize how financial industry firms interact with their customers and run their businesses.
The fund’s holdings include technology services companies that principally derive revenue from the sale of financial-related information, financial data analysis services, financial services software tools or platforms or web-based financial services. Each company in the fund and its corresponding index – 31 in total – has a minimum market cap of $200 million.
“Financial technology is a rapidly growing subsector of the overall financial services industry, and our fintech ETF FINQ seeks to tap into the potential investment opportunity created by these disruptive, forward- thinking companies,” Andrew Chanin, CEO of PureFunds, said. “FINQ allows investors to invest in this fast-growing segment of the industry without having to select individual companies. The rules- based index approach allows us to capture exposure to companies at the forefront of innovation in the financial industry.”
If you’ve got a hot tip, a bright idea, or if you’d like to get visibility for your firm through MarketsMuse via subliminal content marketing, advertorial, blatant shout-out, spotlight article, etc., please reach out to our Senior Editor
Sam Masucci founder and CEO of ETF Managers Group said, “The idea behind PureFunds ETFs is to make available – in a single diversified investment – unique areas within markets that have been greatly enhanced by technology. Technology allows businesses to offer new innovative services that can positively affect a consumer’s experience.”
FINQ will cost 68 basis points* and will be equal weighted. It joins PureFunds’ suite of products, BIGD, GAMR, HACK, IFLY, IPAY, SILJ and IMED, which also begins trading today on the NASDAQ.
* A basis point is one hundredth of a percent
About PureFunds
As an innovator of ETF concepts, PureFunds® strives to provide the market with easy access to in-demand industries through pure-play ETFs. We are a New York City-based research and business management firm, serving as the Manager and/or Sponsor to the suite of PureFunds ETFs. We aim to provide investors with tactical ETFs that may offer attractive investment opportunities in sectors that traditionally have been difficult to invest in. With vast experience in global equity investing and ETF trading, PureFunds has a refreshing and alternative insight into the growing world of ETFs. We have constructed our distinct suite of products in an attempt to meet the needs of investors and traders alike.
About ETF Managers Group
ETF Managers Group, LLC is a leading Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) private label services company. ETF Managers Group offers a full range of ETF product services to the asset management community including commodity pool ETPs as well as both active and passive ETF funds. The services provided include product operations, regulatory, financial and compliance management. ETF Managers Group offers active marketing and dedicated wholesale services for all ETF product types and index construction.
MarketsMuse Fixed Income Curators have been keeping tabs on the seemingly insatiable and outsize demand for yield and in particular, the demand for IG Corporate Bonds aka investment grade corporate debt. With that, we roll to opening excerpt of Aug 9 notes from “Quigley’s Corner”, the financial industry award-winning commentary produced by Ron Quigley, Head of Fixed Income Syndicate for boutique investment bank/institutional brokerage Mischler Financial Group, the securities industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans..
Ron Quigley, Mischler Financial Group
Today things slowed down a bit for the IG dollar DCM but it was still a formidable line-up. We featured 5 IG Corporate Debt issuers that priced 9 tranches between them totaling $7.66b. The Asian Development Bank priced its expected two-part 3s/10s new issue in the SSA space that totaled $1.3b bringing today’s all-in IG tally to 6 issuers, 11 tranches for $8.96b.
WTD we have now priced 85% of the syndicate midpoint average forecast for the week or $19.46b vs. $22.80b. MTD we eclipsed the syndicate estimate for the month after only 7 sessions or $68.41b vs. $61.13b.
The big deal of the day in the IG Corporate Debt space was Duke Energy Corp. $3.75b 3-part 5s/10s/30s issued to finance a portion of costs in connection with Duke’s acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas Company Inc. Last week Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) announced it mandated Barclays, Credit Suisse, Mizuho, MUFG Securities and UBS as joint leads to arrange investor calls after which a transaction could soon follow. As has been written in the “QC” pipeline for a while, on Friday, January 22nd, shareholders of Piedmont Natural Gas (A2/A) voted to approve the Company’s acquisition by Duke Energy (A3/BBB+). 66.8% of voting shares supported the acquisition. In late October 2015, Duke Energy, (A3/BBB+) the nation’s largest utility, announced that it will buy Piedmont Natural Gas (A2/A) for $4.9b in cash. Both companies are partners in the $5b Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The purchase adds one million new rate payers to Duke Energy’s customer base. Congrats to Duke!
Rates on the Rise?…Think Again.
Today the U.S. Treasury held a 3-year notes auction. It was one of the strongest in years. Investors or buyers, for that matter, fly into the safety of USTs motivated by fear and desire for safety. No one flies into 3yr Notes for the 0.85% yield. You want my money? Let’s talk about 5-8% and we can discuss it. So, when I heard the 3yr auction was so wildly successful I pulled up a chair next to my rates guru Mr. Tony Farren to discuss the matter. Here are the prescient takeaways:
The auction stopped thru 1.2 bps which is a big stop for a 3yr auction.
Dealers bought 33.7% of it versus the 6-month average of 38.2%.
The bid-to-cover or oversubscription rate was 2.98x versus the 6-month average of 2.76x.
Bidders at the auction yield (stopped 1.2 bps thru) only received 54.18% of their size bid for (so, if you bid for $100mm you only wound up buying $54.18mm).
What does it all mean? Lower-for-longer. The Fed is not raising rates anytime soon folks. Taking rate volatility off the table means dive int the stock market readers. Get back in now.
To read the full (excerpted edition) of Aug 9 edition of “Quigley’s Corner”, please click here
(Traders Magazine)-CME Group, the US derivatives exchange, has launched an online tool to allow investors to compare the costs of futures against exchange-traded funds, as some ETF issuers have claimed the funds are now cheaper to use.
Last month the CME launched the Total Cost Analysis tool to allow investors to compare the all-in costs of replicating the S&P 500 by trading equity index futures versus ETFs, and intends to expand the tool to other indexes.
Tim McCourt, global head of equity products at CME Group, told Markets Media: “The online tool gives customers the flexibility to compare costs for specific variables such as commissions, trade size and time period.”
The tool focuses on three different components of the total cost of trading – transaction costs, implementation costs and holding costs. McCourt claimed that for an active trader on a short time horizon, futures are overwhelmingly cheaper on a total cost of trading basis, which includes both fees and market impact but in certain circumstances, over different time periods, this could change.
Source, the European ETF issuer, had issued a paper in April, “ETFs vs Futures”, which said futures have become more expensive due to bank regulation while ETFs have become cheaper due to increased competition. The paper said that futures costs have been cheaper recently, this is expected to change. “We expect that, as volatility reduces, the usual imbalance between buyers and sellers in the futures markets will resume and futures costs will return to the levels we saw between 2013 and 2015,” said the report.
In addition Source said futures are particularly expensive relative to ETFs at the December roll as banks have less risk appetite at the financial year-end. “For investors planning to hold an exposure over the December-March period, it may make sense to buy ETFs instead of futures,” added Source.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPECIAL REPORT: GOP NOMINEE VOWS TO SHUT US DEPT OF STATE AND REPLACE WITH US DEPT OF SEX; FIRST LADY MELANIA TO GIVE HEAD AND “LEND A HAND”
DONALD TRUMP TWEETS “MY NEW US DEPARTMENT WILL BE PROFITABLE STARTING DAY ONE!”
(MarketsMuse Exclusive)- Donald Trump, the GOP Presidential Nominee announced today “Because our foreign policy is such a disaster, during my first 100 days as President, I will not only build a really big wall along the Mexico border, I hereby vow to shut the U.S. Department of State until someone can figure out what the heck is going on with our foreign policy and at the same time, I will appoint my wife and First Lady Melania Trump to sit on my staff as Secretary and lead a newly-created US Department of Sex.” Mr. Trump vowed this would be a Cabinet-level role and “unlike every money-losing US Government agency, my new department will be “profitable starting day one!”
Selen Katz, “Creative Director” for Seaquake.io
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In a series of 140-character tweets pushed out late Saturday night by Donald Trump after the NY Post revealed uncovered the plan, the Republican candidate eviscerated the foreign policy strategy initiatives of the Obama administration and declared, “Let’s face it folks, #SEX is the ultimate influencer when it comes to global diplomacy. All of the world’s great leaders have been swayed by legions of Eastern European models and consorts, and Melania is well-trained to lend a hand to my administration; trust me!.” Added Trump, ” We will immediately reward the vast number of under-educated white males in our country who have been so cheated by the rigged system and whose votes are so important to our country!” Trump went further to state ” I hereby pledge that my wife Melania will administer hand jobs to every single uneducated white male who votes for me in the national election.” In a follow-up tweet, Trump stated, “These will be the GREATEST hand jobs ever administered, and you can trust me when I make this promise!”
Trump also suggested that Estonia Government Bonds issued in 1927, long considered to have little value after Russia annexed the country in 1940, would “soon be worth much more than original face value, much more!”
Despite the fact that Mr. Trump has been a direct party to more than 3700 civil law suits during his business career, he insists that the promise to have his wife perform manual sex on under-educated white male voters is “a legal contract that I swear on my son Baron’s head, is a binding agreement that I will co-sign and one that I will not breach and she will not breach!”
In a late-breaking tweet made Sunday morning, Donald Trump said “This promise does not have to be limited to only under-educated white males, Melania will also provide manual sex to any woman who votes for me! This proves that I truly love and respect all women!”
Trump advisor Paul Manafort confirmed that “Donald Trump’s plan to create a revenue-producing US Federal Department of Sex could easily wipe out trillions in US national debt within the first two years of a Trump administration.”
Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner who was recently appointed National Finance Chairman to the Trump Campaign
Trump Finance Head Steve Mnuchin (c)
stated, “Winning and making money and making America great again is our focus. Many people on Wall Street know that Melania is a perfect role model who can lend her own hands to lead a profitable US Government initiative that can wipe out the national debt in a few easy strokes! Mnunchin added, I personally hope that other Trump family members will want to join in this program!”
Donald Trump offering Hitler-style salute
How this latest pledge on the part of Donald Trump’s effort to be elected will impact financial markets remains unclear. According to one CNBC commentator, “From a global macro perspective, I don’t know how the markets will react to Trump’s promise, but I can tell you that most of our Squawk Box talking heads are going to putting out buy recommendations on this new plan and most viewers of CNBC will likely be impressed!”
EC Embraces ISIN reference code protocol for financial instrument identifiers as MiFID II nears full implementation
(Waters Technology |InsideReferenceData.com) 20 July 2016-The European Commission (EC) has adopted several technical standards of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), including RTS 23 (Regulatory Technical Standard), which deals with standards and formats for financial instrument reference data. The initial version of the standards mandated the International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) for reporting under MiFID II and the commission is in the process of finalizing level two texts of the regulation.
David Nowell
David Nowell, head of regulatory compliance and industry relations, UnaVista, London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group, welcomes the development, despite blistering complaints voiced by Richard Young, who leads the “open symbology’ team for Bloomberg LP, which has long been seeking to advance its own proprietary reference code protocol known as FIGI. Bloomberg LP is a privately-owned market data platform that charges upwards of USD $28,000 per user, per year to access the firm’s terminal farm.
“London Stock Exchange welcomes the European Commission’s proposals to adopt the ISIN as the instrument identifier under MiFID II. The use of the ISIN and its accompanying Classification of Financial Instruments (CFI) code allows regulators to have both an identifier and associated instrument classification data,” says Nowell.
If you thought the ETF Issuers industry is getting crowded, you are right. While the barrier to entry is relatively low, the path to traction-measured by AUM can prove rocky, if not populated with land mines. What’s an Issuer to do? Join the Pac-Man Party and sell out what you’ve built to those with a fresh perspective who want to Pass Go and collect the $200 (metaphorically speaking) without having to start from scratch. MarketsMuse gives a shout-out to P&I contributor Randy Diamond for the following update..
“More and more money managers are looking at a way to get into the ETF marketplace,” he said. “The fastest way to do that is through an acquisition; buy something already out there.”
Small ETF providers might have little market share, but that hasn’t stopped them from being acquired by larger active money management firms looking for a quick way to enter or expand their exchange-traded funds business.
Hartford Funds, Radnor, Pa., announced May 17 its purchase of Lattice Strategies, a San Francisco firm known for its smart-beta ETFs. Just a week earlier, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Boston, said it would acquire New York-based ETF provider Emerging Global Advisors.
The two announcements by money management firms are the latest in a string of deals that began in late 2014.
At least two more ETF providers will be sold in 2016 to money managers, predicted investment banker Donald Putnam, a managing partner at San Francisco-based Grail Partners LLC. Mr. Putnam said likely buyers will be firms with 20% to 40% of assets under management in mutual funds. “A lot of it has to do with pivoting existing mutual funds into ETF clones, a lot of it has to do with taking asset management styles that are not in mutual funds and putting them in ETF form initially rather than in old-fashioned mutual fund form,” he said.
Mr. Putnam wouldn’t say which ETF companies he believes are ripe for acquisition, but Reggie Browne, senior managing director and head of ETF trading at Cantor Fitzgerald LP, New York, said potential acquisition targets include AdvisorShares Investments LLC and WisdomTree Investments Inc., New York.
AdvisorShares, Bethesda, Md., with $1.2 billion in assets under management, is the more typical size of ETF managers being acquired. Publicly traded WisdomTree, on the other hand, is the largest independent ETF company in the U.S., with $42 billion in assets under management.
Jan van Eck, president and CEO of New York-based VanEck Global, an ETF company with $23.7 billion in U.S. ETF assets, said in the past year he has talked to at least 10 managers interested in acquiring an ETF company. “We stay in touch with potential strategic partners and investors, but we don’t see a reason for a transaction,” he said. “We think we can grow sufficiently as an independent company.”
Capture a slice
Todd Rosenbluth, a New York-based senior director and director of ETF and mutual fund research at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said as asset flows continue to move from active management and into areas such as ETFs, active managers are trying to position themselves to capture a slice of the growing business.
“More and more money managers are looking at a way to get into the ETF marketplace,” he said. “The fastest way to do that is through an acquisition; buy something already out there.”
The summer interns at MarketsMuse had already voted “Shark Tank” as their favorite TV show, so it was no surprise that our senior curators took their cue to advance the latest news from Kevin O’Leary, the celeb entrepreneur and more recently, an ETF aficionado who has extended his brand to the world of exchange-traded fund (ETF) products under the O’Shares Investment umbrella.
(Bloomberg) — Kevin O’Leary is out to carve a niche for himself in the world of exchange-traded funds.
The chairman of O’Shares Investments and Shark Tank personality has filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch 17 ETFs. All the proposed offerings have “quality” in the name and would employ a passive investing approach. The investable universe of these funds includes emerging-market equities, small-cap U.S. stocks, preferred shares, and even corporate credit.
“It’s rare for an indie shop like this to put this many funds on one filing,” said Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
O’Leary’s celebrity status and the application of smart-beta strategies to fixed income could help the Canadian businessman differentiate himself and attract assets in what’s becoming a crowded ETF space, with roughly 60 issuers in the U.S. The “quality” designation suggests O’Leary’s ETFs will put a priority on conservative factors, which are in vogue as the bull market enters its eighth year.
O’Shares’ most popular current offering, the FTSE U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (NYSE ARCA: OUSA), has $240.5-million in assets and has outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year:
Details on expense ratios or fees for O’Shares‘ proposed ETFs weren’t included in the preliminary prospectus. The FTSE U.S. Quality Dividend ETF has an expense ratio of 0.48 percent, which is roughly in line with that of other smart beta offerings.
Earlier this year, O’Leary indicated that he was considering a run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada after former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Tories lost the 2015 federal election to the Liberals, led by Justin Trudeau.
Private Placement Services Portal Changes Name to PPM.co; Adds Full Suite of Product Offerings with Launch of New Website
(PRweb)–New York, NY–July 12 2016- PPM Services, Ltd, the global consulting firm specialising in private placement memorandum document preparation for debt and equities and business plan preparation services for start-ups, announced today that it has introduced a new suite of products and re-branded its website platform under the new domain, PPM.co. Owned and operated by parent company Broker Dealer LLC, PPM.co has also introduced new modules to its platform to support entrepreneurs and fast-growth business enterprises that are in need of documentation for Regulation A+ equity crowdfunding initiatives, Regulation D Exemptions, Eurobond and 144a bond and Regulation S offerings, EB-5, as well as CUSIP and ISIN code application services.
The updated PPM.co platform includes a newly-introduced referral service module for law firms, accounting firms and private investment brokers in need of outsourced securities offering document preparation services, as well as a recently-established investor relations and public relations service for companies in need of expert guidance and implementation of brand awareness and social media campaigns. Concurrent with the brand update, the firm has updated its Twitter account to @PPMexperts. The firm’s FaceBook page is available via this link.
About PPM.co
Established in 1999, PPM.co through its predecessor entities has provided documentation preparation services and investment offering material for hundreds of start-ups, fast-growth and well-established companies in virtually every part of the free world. PPM.co maintains its corporate office in New York’s Trump Building at 40 Wall Street, and regional offices staffed by a professional network of investment banking and legal consultants in Los Angeles, Austin, TX, Chicago, IL and Boston, MA, as well as London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv. Our expertise extends across most offering types, ranging from private placement memorandum (PPM) and business plan writing services to 144A offerings, Regulation A and Regulation A+, Regulation S (Reg S or 144a-Reg S mixtures), securities listing, Euro bond creation, IPO services, and obtaining securities identification numbers including CUSIP and ISIN (International Securities Identification Number). The firm’s website is located at www.ppm.co and social media outlets Twitter via @PPMexperts and FaceBook
Now that corporate bond fund managers have proven their continuing interest in and use of bond ETFs, State Street and Bloomberg LP are joining hands in an effort to re-define the notion of “straight-thru-processing” for institutional investors that are using fixed income ETF products…MarketsMuse sends a shout-out to BusinessWire for allowing us to re-distribute the below news release.
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) , and Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, announced today the launch of an enhancement for the fixed income exchange traded fund (ETF) market that helps clients process and settle ETF orders in a more efficient, scalable and automated manner.
As institutional adoption of ETFs continues to increase, this new link between State Street and Bloomberg marks an evolution in how fixed income ETFs trade and settle in the primary market. The enhancement integrates Bloomberg’s Fixed Income ETF Basket service (BSKT<GO>) with TotalETF℠, State Street’s automated, global ETF servicing solution and Fund Connect®, State Street’s online order management system.
Bloomberg’s service allows authorized participants to submit orders directly from BSKT<GO> to State Street and generates in-kind settlement instructions based on transaction messages received from Bloomberg. It will also be available to all ETF sponsors currently serviced by State Street Global Services.
As MarketsMuse curators work towards competing for the news industry award for publishing the “5 millionth” commentary regarding last week’s “Brexit” vote, our senior publisher voted in favor of keeping the blog post focused on a global macro view that is different than what the popular pundits have been opining for the past week. With that in mind, Neil Azous of Rareview Macro coincidentally canned a video interview yesterday with Interactive Brokers, aka “the professionals gateway to the world’s markets” and arguably, the most robust online brokerage platform used by a broad spectrum of hedge funds and professional traders..The interview below can be found on IB’s blog and via @IBKR_TI
BlackRock is the latest firm to embrace Symphony Chat Platform; Another Shot Across Bloomberg Bow
In early 2014, when David Gurle, a former Reuters exec started to chat up a scheme with prospective banking industry investors that would offer a low cost alternative to Bloomberg LP’s ubiquitous instant message / chat application, prospective strategic investors were more than intrigued. After all, Bloomberg had long held a virtual monopoly on the most critical application used across financial markets, one that enables traders and managers to rapidly communicate indications of interest for large-scale transactions And, because Bloomberg only provides bundled applications within its subscription model, many terminal subscribers who only use that platform for instant messaging have long been handcuffed to annual terminal fees that approach $25,000 per user for the simple privilege of instant messaging. Guthrie’s idea was not only intriguing, it was seen as an epiphany moment by a start-up investing group within Goldman Sachs led by a fellow named David Cohen, who long expressed concerns about Bloomberg’s toe-hold on trading desk communications.
Soon thereafter, a consortium of banks and buyside firms pumped nearly $70 million into the startup named Symphony, each sharing the same goal of hoping to save millions of dollars on Bloomberg subscription fees and via a more secure way to communicate with trading desk counterparts away from watching eyes of Bloomberg’s black box. Nearly 2 years since that first funding round, the company has received approximately $100mil to fund its David v. Goliath battle. Now that Blackrock has joined the Symphony party, the fintech company’s still slow path to prominence is hoped to hasten. Below excerpt from WSJ frames the latest chapter..
David Gurle, Symphony CEO
By JUSTIN BAER and SARAH KROUSE
June 23, 2016 7:00 p.m. ET
The world’s largest money manager is trying to change the way Wall Street chats.
BlackRock Inc. will urge banks, brokers and others who interact with it to communicate via a messaging platform backed by banks and investment firms called Symphony Communication Services LLC, according to people familiar with the matter.
The asset manager, also an investor in Symphony, started testing the system with thousands of employees internally last year and now has moved all internal chat messaging to the service, the people said.
The hope from those backing Symphony is that BlackRock’s push will help jump-start the service’s use across the financial-services industry.
Symphony was created as an alternative to Bloomberg LP terminals, long a hallmark of trading floors and an expense banks have struggled to trim. The firms also like Symphony’s secure-messaging technology.
Despite the fanfare that followed Symphony’s late-2014 launch and last year’s $100 million funding round that included an investment from Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Symphony has yet to gain widespread use, according to traders across Wall Street.
At Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a Symphony investor that contributed its own messaging developments to the platform, the service is now used by most of the firm’s employees across all of its businesses, according to a person familiar with the situation. Goldman traders, for instance, use Symphony to communicate with back-office employees charged with settling trades.
Elsewhere, though, Symphony remains little used or, in some cases, virtually unknown.
BREXIT or BREMAIN the NEVERENDUMS Will Continue in Europe
“Should I Stay or Should I Go? That Answer Is Self Evident…”
A Global Macro perspective from Debt Market Veteran..Music by Clash, Comments by Quigley
Below excerpt courtesy of 22 June edition of “Quigley’s Corner”, the industry award-winning debt capital market commentary from Ron Quigley, Managing Director of boutique investment bank / institutional brokerage Mischler Financial Group, the financial industry’s oldest minority broker-dealer owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans
Ron Quigley, Mgn.Dir. Mischler Financial Group
Everyone is now saying how anxious the markets are to get the U.K. referendum vote out of the way. It’s been like a dark cloud hovering over the financial services industry. However, they are also increasingly pointing out that even with a vote to BREXIT, the actual impact will be much less severe than first anticipated. So, without further ado and since the potential impact has been overplayed these last several weeks, I need to chime in here with one day left to voice why the U.K. should want to part from the EU.
Over the last several days British PM David Cameron’s rally cry has been “Brits Don’t Quit” which from my perspective is akin to saying “Brits are followers not leaders.” The U.K. has a long history of doing the right thing at the right time. I point no further than its involvement in both chapters of World War II. That right there is foundational to the people of the U.K. – doing things for the greater good in defense of Britain and our allies Staying in the EU would be doing the wrong thing that will hurt Britain. But I know you want more meat on this bone so let’s get to it:
As I’ve said from the get go, Britain left the EEC – the precursor to the EU – in 1982 in a special referendum vote in which the “leave” vote garnered 52% to the “stay” vote’s 48%. Sound familiar? The U.K. also never adopted the single currency and the Schengen Agreement has no place because the U.K is an island nation. Still the Euro and Schengen are the foundational building blocks for a successful EU. The continent is now into negative rates, there are far too many cultures, borders, nationalities, customs, histories and languages to virtually have doomed the EU from the start. That’s why the U.K. was never part of the EU’s core thesis.
Unemployment will not rise in the U.K. on a BREXIT rather it will hammer out a UK/EU trade agreement to maintain continued healthy trade with the European continent.
For those EU chiefs threatening “if there’s a BREXIT, the U.K. will NEVER rejoin the EU again!” here’s what I have to say on the subject : Advocates to BREMAIN claim that the U.K. maintains a balance of power in Europe that has preserved peace following World Wars I & II. First, I state that WW I & II were actually one VERY long war with a pregnant pause between them. Europe could not keep itself together. History shows that is true. So, follow the logic – if the U.K. leaves and Europe heads toward the cusp of war, don’t you think the continent would do everything in its power to avoid another catastrophe? Europe would obviously welcome Britain with open arms! Not that the U.K. would then chose to jump back onboard.
For those of you not sure, however, let’s take Greece as an example. Greece has been bailed out three times by the EU. They are in every aspect of the term a laggard economy and society. I have nothing against Greece or Greeks but the word AUSTERITY is not in their vocabulary! ………Hold on a moment, as I need to check that with some phone calls. Oops, sorry folks, in my ambition to get the details right I stand corrected. The word for “austerity” in Greek is “λιτότητα.” So, it does actually exist but the rest of the world can’t seem to decipher those characters – quite literally. Having said that austerity is not embraced by Greek society. They are all about enjoying life and taking it easy. That’s why the average lifespan for a male is 78.6 years and a female is 83.9 years. The average is 81.3 years ranking it 20th in the world. Conversely, we here in the U.S., we rank 26th and at the end of the day isn’t life what it’s all about. So, that’s my concession to Greece, a longer life span because they’re obviously not stressed what with everyone else paying the freight and carrying their load. The point here is that if the EU bailed out that laggard nation THREE TIMES do you really think the idle threat to the U.K. of never being invited back into the EU has any remote credibility with Brits at all? I mean c’mon, get real. Europe is dismantling faster and faster with each month. Britain should want no part of it. Continue reading →
(SubstantiveResearch.com)- The global macro trade idea of the week with eye on China. With all of the debate around the Fed’s signalling for rate hikes this summer, the question of how to hedge, or for that matter, to bet on China is prominent in the mind of investors. Neil Azous of Rareview Macro has some good ideas on how to effectively hedge for the potential/probable devaluation of the RMB, and its wider impact on Asia, whilst also benefiting from some significant positive carry in long China equities. So rather than roll out the same ”will they-won’t they” or ”What today’s fix and what does it mean” there’s some good practical value-add here. Non-subscribers won’t be able to access the full piece, but click below to access Rareview’s archive or book a time to discuss the Rareview product with Azous.
(RaiseMoney.com) -It takes a life-long pioneer in the insurance industry to know best when to grab first mover advantage whenever a new landscape appears, as evidenced by Tuesday’s announcement from New York-based global insurer AIG, which says it will be the first to offer crowdfund insurance for investors in equity crowdfunding deals. Below extract is courtesy of coverage by WSJ reporter Leslie Scism.
(WSJ) American International Group is giving crowdfunding a try. Not to raise money for startups, but to help allay investors’ concerns about being ripped off as they invest in small businesses through this new type of funding.
The New York company is set to launch what it is calling “Crowdfunding Fidelity,” an insurance product developed to protect investors on equity crowdfunding platforms against fraud.
In announcing the new coverage Tuesday morning, AIG noted that there have been few instances of fraud in the sector so far. But it said its new product would help to build investor trust to ensure underlying issuer trustworthiness.
“As a sector still in its infancy, equity crowdfunding platforms are only as strong as the confidence they instill in their investors,” said Lex Baugh, AIG’s president of liability and financial lines, in a news release.
The coverage isn’t available to protect against just any crowdfunding project. So-called equity crowdfunding offers investors stakes in a company. Earlier this month, new U.S. rules kicked in under which ordinary investors—not just wealthy individuals, or so-called accredited investors—can participate in such offerings. The fundraising option originates from the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act.
AIG will sell the coverage only to those portals it has determined have adequate processes in place to check out backgrounds of the businesses they allow to sell equity stakes, Mr. Baugh said.
Not so fast my friends…..not so fast! It’s not exactly a “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment. Still, let’s call it like it is folks – I did say “the next best thing to having tomorrow’s newspaper today is the ‘QC’”. Then on Monday, September 19th and alluding to today’s BoJ and FOMC rate decisions, I wrote, “Fed Holds; BoJ Cuts Rate and Then Some.” Well, I guess it’s not “tomorrow’s newspaper today” but I still think it’s the “next best thing to it.” The Fed Held, the BoJ introduced new fringy though convoluted easing details (“and then some”) but the BoJ kept rates unchanged. Two out of three isn’t bad, but that’s why it’s “the next best thing.” If I played baseball, I’d be in the Hall of Fame with a .666 average. Joking aside, a Fed that infers raising rates by December should have hiked rates today, but they didn’t. This is more of the same readers. Look for Fed members – both voting and non-voting – to continue giving speeches and appearing on television to opine about the rate flux that has restricted so many from doing so much. The street is the leader; the Fed is the ultimate laggard. It’s how it is. Today was more of the same. No surprise at all. The government should consider issuing a gag order on any and all Fed-speak in between meetings for all members, both voting and non-voting. They only confuse the situation and shock markets.
