Monday morning briefing – May 27, 2019
Socially responsible investing by hedge funds on the rise. Using branches to help with a bank’s digital strategy. Institutional investors prepared for a market downturn. And much more in this week’s briefing.
Economic/industry news
The Japanese economy expanded 0.5% in the first quarter of 2019: Japan’s Q1 GDP: The details are worrisome
Will we see an interest rate cut by the Fed?: David Rosenberg says U.S. will cut rates by end of summer
Assets in passive and active U.S. equity funds at US$4.3 trillion each: Passive fund assets draw even with active incumbents in U.S.
U.S. ETF that pays investors will put pressure on fund fees: Fund fees face added pressure with first U.S. fund that pays investors
There were US$45.94 billion of net inflows into global ETFs in April: Global ETF assets reached US$5.57 trillion last month
News and notes (U.S.)
Asian, emerging markets and event driven hedge funds attracting assets: Event driven, Asia, emerging markets hedge funds are big asset winners in April and YTD
Socially responsible investing by hedge funds on the rise: Hedge funds start to figure out socially responsible investing
Appaloosa LP to convert to a family office: David Tepper’s hedge fund days are coming to a close (one day)
PE exits declined in the first quarter of 2019: Exit activity nosedives for PE firms in 1Q
Investors concerned about the return potential from private markets: Private equity loses luster
Possible changes expected to the tax treatment of carried interest profits: Mnuchin says no plan to change carried interest tax treatment
Vanguard launches first actively managed ESG fund: Vanguard’s first actively managed ESG fund now open for investment
News and notes (Canada)
Allianz Group invests $100 million in Wealthsimple: Allianz makes ‘landmark’ investment in Wealthsimple
Purpose launches options ETF: Purpose launches new options ETF
Canadian mutual funds experienced $1.0 billion of outflows in April: ETF sales trump mutual funds in April
Canadian debt levels continue to rise: CMHC says Canadian debt levels hit record highs at end of last year
Canadian executives expect strong revenue growth this year: Economic optimism underpins strong M&A market
On the pulse – New frontiers in fintech
Using branches to help with a bank’s digital strategy: Don’t abandon branches to favor digital banking channels
Outages causing problems for open banking: Open banking revolution on hold as banks fail to prioritise fixing outages
Banks spending heavily in digital transformation to ward off the threat from fintech firms:Banks waking up to fintech threat throw billions into digital
How artificial intelligence can help banks: How AI will supercharge bank and credit union innovation
The top 20 countries in AI readiness: UK near top of AI index
Attracting the Gen Z client: Are you focused on the right customer?
Trade AI Engine will provide a better experience for trade processing: Standard Chartered rolls out Trade AI Engine
Revolut launches group feature for its vault account: Revolut launches Group Vaults as an alternative to joint accounts
HSBC opens artificial intelligence lab: HSBC opens global data lab in Toronto
High-net-worth topics
What wealthy clients want from an advisor: How advisors can stand out to wealthy clients
A look at philanthropy from the CEO of the Center for Effective Philanthropy: What Wall Street gets wrong about giving
Cash holdings on the rise for the ultra-wealthy: A group of superrich investors, spooked by China and potential ‘black swans,’ raises cash to levels not seen in years
Polls & surveys – What financials are saying
Institutional investors prepared for a market downturn (Wilshire): Institutional investors think they’re ready for the next downturn
Approximately 50% of investment managers are using alternative data (IHS Markit): Half of investment managers use alternative data: report
Investment professionals bullish on U.S. equity markets (SPDR): Investors still confident in mid-2019, but risk tolerance dips