Welcome to Issue 17 of Exchange Traded Fridays for the week ending 12th November 2021. In this week's news we had our market update on ausbiz as well as a blog for the Australian Shareholders Association. On ausbiz, this was for the October 2021 data review thanks to new data from the ASX and we also spoke about our dive under the hood of crypto/blockchain based ETFs (DIGA, CRYP and FTEC). For the ASA, it was a follow up blog to a video we did last week with their CEO, Rachel Waterhouse and we also saw the announcement of registrations of interest in VanEck's local bitcoin ETF filing so look out for that.
In the education section we feature the Passive Investing Australia site which has some amazing content for those getting started in this space.
Finally, we wrapped up season 1 of our Interviews with Experts series and showcased the innovation in ETFs that VanEck brings in an interview with Damon Gosen. Check that out below (or go directly to it here: LINK).
What's in this newsletter?
Local ETF Articles
Global ETF Articles
ETF Videos
ETF Podcasts
Tweet of the week
Chart of the week
ETF Education
ETFtracker App Links
ETFtracker Forum
Listen or Watch
Articles - Local
ASA (Australian Shareholders Association) - Exchange Traded Funds - Following up from our video last week with Rachel Waterhouse (CEO of the ASA) talking about under the hood of ETFs, we also wrote a blog for the ASA on these topics too. We find that a great way to get to know an ETF better and what is going on in the markets is via data and we're lucky in Australia to have access to monthly market stats from the exchanges that we can combine with other information to gather interesting insights into the market or particular ETFs.
Livewire Markets - Fully-fledged crypto ETFs just months away, as CRYP and DIGA test local waters - In this article, Glenn Freeman of Livewire Markets goes under the hood of the recently listed Bitcoin/Crypto ETFs CRYP (BetaShares) and DIGA (Cosmos Asset Management/Mawson Infrastructure) as their picks and shovels approach to creating this sort of exposure for investors has proven quite popular. It goes through the rules that holdings need to go through to get listed in Cosmos' ETF and the need to educate the market that both providers are pushing towards.
Investopedia - Australia approves long awaited spot Bitcoin ETF - Another article in the bitcoin ETF series of stories that are all over the news and this is the Investopedia take on it. It goes through the ASIC best-practice guidelines for Bitcoin ETF issuers and how Australia's stance can be used by other jurisdictions as a model for this sort of thing where bitcoin futures ETFs seem to be more the norm.
AFR - Millennial self-managed super sign-ups surge - In this article from Aleks Vickovich, we see that data from AUSIEX shows that millenials account for 10% of SMSFs on their network of 63k accounts. Gen Z numbers grew by 250% over November 2019 to March 2021 and with platforms like Stake making it easier to do. The cost appears to be lower to do this than the suggested data from ASIC as well. Broad market ETFs VTS, IVV and NDQ are among the most popular seen being used by Stake users.
VanEck Bitcoin ETF registration - It's begun. In this post on LinkedIn the team at VanEck have opened up registrations of interest for bitcoin ETFs which are just awaiting exchange approval. If you're interested, check it out.
ETF Securities - Weekly Report - w/e 5th November - Per ETF Securities: "US equities ticked consistently higher last week reaching more fresh highs. Oil declined and resources came off again. ETFS Semiconductor ETF (SEMI) was the best performer for the week up 9.6%, while iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF (IJR) was up 7.9%. The worst performers were short products and the worst-performing equity ETF was VanEck Vectors Global Clean Energy ETF (CLNE) down 2.8%."
Articles - Global
Bloomberg - Grayscale ETF Plans Take Shape With ‘Future of Finance’ Filing - For those who don't know, Grayscale run the biggest bitcoin trust product in the world and have been rumoured to be looking at turning it into a bitcoin ETF (SEC approval pending of course). But, despite any plans in that sense, they have also filed another ETF and they've also hired a global head of ETFs too which signals their bigger plans to take on this space. GBTC held 3.4% of the worlds bitcoin supply in mid-October so they are sizable and look to add to that size with an intended ETF GFOF which track crypto linked equities.
Yahoo Finance - 5 ETFs Sizzling to Start November - In this article they go through SPY, IVV, VOO, VTI and XLF which are highlighted as five funds that dominated the top U.S. equity creation list last week and can continue to be investors’ darlings given the recent rallies and upbeat corporate earnings in the US.
Financial Times - Physical carbon credit ETF wins praise despite some misgivings - With the laucnh of a carbon credit ETF, there have been some to praise it but others that worry of the unintended consequences here. It is the first ETF to invest directly and exclusively in EU allowances (or EUAs), otherwise known as pollution permits but the unintended consequences could be that it forces energy prices to rise. A need to think holistically is important according to analysts in this article.
Videos
The ETFtracker Show - Interview with Experts - Episode 12 - The final episode and number 12 in this 1st season of The ETFtracker Show’s Interview with Experts series. In today’s episode we chat with Damon Gosen of VanEck Australia. We learnt about some of the innovative ETFs coming from their team and keep an eye out as they've got plans for launching a bitcoin ETF given the latest ASIC approvals. 32mins
The Compound and Friends - The Relentless Bid - 6th November 2021 - one of the best podcasts we listen to over here and you will have seen almost each week is The Compound and whilst its US based, they get some great guests. Yesterday, they had an ETF special with one of the best ETF analysts from Bloomberg on there in Eric Balchunas. in this episode they go through commission free trading, direct indexing, the bitcoin ETF, and more. 46mins
ausbiz - Monochrome Asset Management on the Bitcoin ETF race - In this video (available on LinkedIn), Monochrome Asset Management CEO Jeff Yew talks about their bitcoin fund and the flow of money from different groups of users. Importantly, they discuss their proactive approach to a bitcoin/crypto ETF and are one of the front runners for this play in Australia. Their experience in managing digital assets will certainly help. 8mins
ausbiz - An easy way to spread the risks of investing in the crypto space - 10th November 2021 - Per the show notes: "Here's a blockchain bonus for your portfolio! Is there a rivalry forming between crypto and gold when it comes to the best inflation hedge? For ETF Securities’ Kanish Chugh, the answer is a resounding no. Looking at the data on flows he has access to, he sees no evidence that flows once destined for gold are now going to crypto funds." 6mins
ausbiz - Look under the hood of crypto ETFs - 9th November 2021 - In this episode we highlighted the latest goings on in the ETF markets with ASX data for October 2021 coming which showed best performers being HGEN (+20%) and CLNE (+12%) being the best performers as well net inflows continuing to see growth at +$2.4bn in the month. In the second half we dived into the holdings of the 3 latest crypto/blockchain ETFs to see what they're all about and whether there are similarities across FTEC, DIGA and CRYP. 6mins.
ausbiz - Can the crypto ETF launch hype sustain itself - 9th November 2021 - Per the show notes "Launching is one thing, momentum is another and keeping the momentum up is its own kettle of fish. So can Betashares and its new crypto innovators ETF do all three? Cameron Gleeson from Betashares argues - yes." 5mins
ausbiz - How to invest in the Metaverse - 5th November 2021 - James Whelan from VFS Group goes through not just the Facebook name change and move to the metaverse but what else this virtual world is meant to be. He mentions the US listed META ETF which invests in all things metaverse and how this could work. 5mins
Podcasts
CNBC's ETF Edge - Gold vs. Bitcoin & Gold ETFs - 8th November 2021 - In this week's episode it's all about Gold vs Bitcoin ETFs and how the 2 are often equated as a hedge against the goings on in the market, but the difference being in volatility and utility. Additionally, they get into holding gold on its own as a collectable and the pathway that gold had to go through to become an acceptable ETF back in 2004 and the similarities with what cryptocurrency ETFs are going through now. 31mins
ETF Working Lunch - Getting the story right - 8th November 2021 - Per the show notes "Every ETF comes with a story, but how do you best tell it to the marketplace? Julia Stoll, associate VP of media relations and business development at MacMillan Communications, shares her experience as a communicator on how to deliver the right message to the right people." 20mins.
The ETFtracker Show - Interview with Experts - Episode 12 - same as the video above but if you want to listen to it you can listen in here. 32mins
Morningstar - Investing Compass - Breaking the internet: Bitcoin ETFs - In this episode, Shani and Mark from Morningstar explore the bitcoin and bitcoin ETF phenomenon. It's been all over the news but before diving in its always important to do your homework. Luckily, there are great podcasts like this that can help us deep dive into these topics so check it out. 22mins
Tweet of the week This one is from us and if you don't already follow @ETFtrackerAU on twitter then you should. We flagged on Monday the latest data out from the ASX for October 2021. See - https://twitter.com/ETFtrackerAU/status/1457524498937233409
Chart of the Week This image comes from our Bloomberg article on Grayscale showing that GBTC's trust price trades at a discount to the bitcoin it holds. It's accessible here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-08/grayscale-etf-plans-take-shape-with-future-of-finance-filing?srnd=etfs
Further ETF Education Passive Investing Australia - this is an often quoted site amongst the various Facebook/Reddit and other social media groups out there. Lots of great content for those getting started in ETFs and a tonne of questions and misconceptions explained and answered. There's been a lot of care taken to put this together so it's worth a read.
Access the ETFtracker App
Access to the newest version of the ETFtracker app is here: https://www.etftracker.com.au/the-app
ETFtracker Forum If you're not already a member of the ETFtracker Forum then please sign up - you can access conversations and share ideas amongst peers for free. Sign up is free: https://www.etftracker.com.au/forum
ETFtracker Podcast and Videos Before we go further, if you'd prefer to consume all this content in more convenient forms of media, we've launched The ETFtracker Show as a podcast and video and Exchange Traded Fridays comes at the end of each week. Additionally, we've launched a series of interviews with various ETF market participants.
You can also access the podcast directly on our website here: https://www.etftracker.com.au/podcasts
ausbiz
If you're interested in financial news you should check out ausbiz (sign up HERE) which has so much FREE financial and business content that comes out every day and has made it easier to follow your favourite topics and market experts. We get to feature on there and you can check out our page (and give us a follow) here: https://www.ausbiz.com.au/expert/mark-monfort?expertID=179
