Tag Archives: Bloomberg LP

ETF News, slider, Tech Talk

Bloomberg Couples With State Street: ETF Fixed Income Basket Tool Launch

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MarketsMuse update courtesy of  press release issued by Bloomberg LP

NEW YORK–(Business Wire)–Bloomberg today introduced the Bloomberg Fixed Income ETF Basket Tool in order to further automate the workflow and construction of fixed income exchange traded funds (ETFs). The new offering provides the first comprehensive solution for clients of State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) to automate the process of creating and redeeming baskets of fixed income ETFs.

“Unlike equity ETF products, fixed income ETFs are highly customized. The Bloomberg Fixed Income ETF Basket Tool helps the basketing and negotiating process by introducing efficiencies that have not existed for these products,” said Ben Macdonald, Bloomberg’s Global Head of Product. “Our solution integrates our pre-existing technology and helps SSGA’s authorized participants and market makers to gain access to the liquidity necessary to create and redeem fixed income ETFs.”

“Rapid growth in the fixed income ETF market has provided more liquidity and a cost-efficient alternative to undertaking credit risk,” said Timothy Coyne, Global Head of the ETF Capital Markets Group at State Street Global Advisors. “The Bloomberg Fixed Income ETF Basket Tool provides market participants an efficient and systematic way to access the primary market of ETFs.” Continue reading →

Tech Talk

Chit Chat: BD’s Put Cross-Hairs on Bloomberg IM; Perhaps Perzo?

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Below courtesy of BrokerDealer.com blog post

As an instant update to the July 31 BrokerDealer.com profiling Blabber, the instant chat and messaging application created by Goldman Sachs as a possible industry replacement for the ubiquitous Bloomberg LP IM/chat service, we thank Silicon Valley Business Journal contributor Jason McCormick for his coverage below.

perzo imPerzo Inc., an instant-messaging service based in Palo Alto, is in negotiations for a possible sale to a group led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to the Wall Street Journal.

The group of financial firms, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., is seeking an alternative to Bloomberg LP’s messaging service, which has become a dominant way for Wall Street traders to communicate.

The Journal reported that the group is mulling an investment between $40 and $50 million in the company, created by communications executive David Gurle. The company already has financial backing from Merus Capital, which was founded by former Google Inc. executive Sean Dempsey.

The talks come following a push by Goldman to ban its traders from using some instant-messaging services offered by Bloomberg and others, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bloomberg is facing pressure after reports surfaced that journalists in its employ used the service to check on the activities of its users.

 

ETF News

ETF Volatility: The Real Story Behind The [Bloomberg] Story

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indexuniverseCourtesy of Dave Nadig’s July 12 column

This morning Bloomberg published a story titled “ETF Simplicity Betrayed by Volatility in Market Selloff.”

In the article, the authors contend that they’ve run the numbers, and that ETFs are just flat-out more volatile than mutual funds. Here’s the lead:

“Share prices for the 10 largest diversified emerging-market ETFs on average were 42.6 percent more volatile than their underlying indexes from May 22 to June 24.”

Let’s break down what they could possibly mean here, and let’s start with a few baselines.

While the article claims it’s not addressing the issue of premiums and discounts—that is, how far off fair value a given ETF closes in market trading versus its underlying index—it’s fairly clear that’s not the case. If it were, then the following chart wouldn’t make sense.

This is a rolling look at the 20-day historical volatility of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM) and the actual index it tracks, over the period in question. I’m looking here at the actual NAV, and as you’d expect, they track extremely closely:

1---EEM-VOL

The bottom line looks at the difference, and you might ask: “Well, why is there any difference at all?”

Continue reading →

ETF News, Global Macro Strategy, People Profiles

Wall St. Traders Take a Break to Jump Through Hoops; Bloomberg LP Shout-Out for Autism Speaks Raises Big Bucks

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According to Nielsen Ratings, Bloomberg LP’s 1st Annual Market Madness 3-on-3 Charity Basketball Tourney, which took place on April 8th at Pier 36’s Basketball City, did not draw as many eyeballs as the NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship held on the same night, but the event did bring out 25, 3-man teams representing the top trading and broking desks on Wall Street in a one night event that attracted 200 spectators and raised tens of thousands of dollars for Autism Speaks™.

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Bloomberg LP’s April 8 Market Madness at Basketball City in NY

In a post-event 360, Carrie Cliggett, the Bloomberg LP Market Madness event coordinator stated, “We’re thrilled to have had Wall Street’s top firms participate and so many fans turn out for what we look forward to be the first of many charity-focused seasons for Market Madness.” Ms. Cliggett was unable to comment as to whether Bloomberg TV might carry next season’s tournament on its broadcast network.

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Former UVa Champ and WallachBeth Mgn.Dir. Willie Dersch

Mixed in among squads from the “6-Pack firms”, there were more than a dozen trading and brokerage desks on the court, including 2 squads from ETF and options broker WallachBeth Capital. The team’s 6’6 player-coach Willie Dersch, a former co-captain of University of Virginia’s men’s basketball team (’00) was side-lined for the event due to injury, but inspired his team from the bench by offering tips to WB’s senior squad members Gene Cushman, Dana Martin, and Scott Saunders.

Noted Dersch, “Nobody can discount the talent that came out to compete; the best part was helping a really important cause.” WallachBeth also courted a junior team of rising Wall Street stars, comprised of 6’5 options desk associate Luke Greene, 6’2 power forward and ETF trader David Shaw, and trading desk guards Derek Sellhausen and Lee Blieberg.

Bloomberg LP underwrote all of the costs associated with producing the event and each team contributed a minimum of $1000 to participate. Bloomberg’s Cliggett would not comment on rumored matching contributions made by Bloomberg LP, its founder and New York City Major Michael Bloomberg, or Bloomberg CEO Daniel Doctoroff, but it is widely-known that Bloomberg executives have a propensity to ‘bid on’ in connection with company-endorsed philanthropic programs. The final tally raised for Autism Speaks ™ is therefore expected to be in the tens of thousands for this single-night program.

ETF News

iShares’ Eye On Canada..Market to Double in Size

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Courtesy of Eric Lim/Bloomberg LP

IShares expects Canada’s exchange- traded fund market will double to about C$100 billion ($100.8 billion) in three to five years and the company plans to offer products and partnerships with firms such as Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) to maintain its No. 1 rank.

IShares Canada, a unit of BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, is planning to unveil at least one new product in 2013, said Mary Anne Wiley, managing director and head of the Toronto-based company. The strategy for 2013 will be producing “themed” ETFs as opposed to those defined by geography, she said.

“We don’t need another Canadian equity ETF,” Wiley said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “Where I see demand is in strategy-based, theme-based products, income and yields. That could be done by combining equity and fixed income rather than going after a particular segment.”

The ETF industry in Canada had total assets under management of about C$54 billion as of October, according to iShares. The industry has grown 20 percent to 30 percent a year over the past five years, Wiley said. The Toronto Stock Exchange says it offered the world’s first ETF in 1990, tied to the TSE 35 Index. “We could double that size in three to five years, easily,” she said in the Nov. 21 interview. “More and more investors are using ETFs as part of their core investing.”

Assets under management grew 26 percent this year through October, with fixed-income products accounting for about 50 percent of net new funds, Wiley said.

IShares Canada says it holds a 76 percent share of the ETF market, or C$41.3 billion in assets under management. The company sells 88 ETFs, accounting for about a third of the 258 total ETFs available in Canada. The Top 10 largest ETFs belong to the iShares family.

“It’s still a small part of the pot, so we have a long way to go,” Wiley said.

Kevin Gopaul, chief investment officer with BMO Asset Management Inc., who runs the company’s ETF and mutual fund businesses, said iShares’ position as leader is not guaranteed. Continue reading →