The Moscow Exchange has launched the Moscow Real Estate DomClick Index based on data from DomClick, part of the Sberbank ecosystem and based on mortgage transactions from the Russian bank.
The Index tracks the weighted average price per square meter of residential space across the city of Moscow - includes apartments in multi-story apartment buildings and excludes luxury real estate (with a sale price exceeding RUB30 million (US$400K) to avoid price misrepresentation.
The Index was calculated retroactively to late 2016. The index value was RUB 159,647 per square meter of space as of 28 December 2016 and RUB 188,578 as of 5 August 2020. The index is calculated on a weekly basis and reviewed quarterly.
The index methodology as well as amendments and supplements were developed based on recommendations from the Expert Council on Real Estate Market comprising representatives of Moscow Exchange, Sberbank, DomClick, DOM.RF, Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Financial University of the Russian government.
Igor Marich (pictured), member of the Moscow Exchange executive board, said the new index will allow investment funds and retail investors to implement strategies to benefit from changes in real estate prices.
‘Developers will be able to hedge market risk and financial companies will create new structured products to help retail investors accumulate funds to purchase real estate or a make a down payment,’ said Marich, adding that futures contract on the gauge will be considered at a later date.
India’s ICICI Pru deploys low vol 30 tracker
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched the ICICI Prudential Alpha Low Vol 30 ETF, an open-ended index exchange traded fund tracking the Nifty Alpha Low Volatility 30 Index listed on NSE and BSE.
The ICICI Prudential Alpha Low Vol 30 ETF provides investors a choice to take exposure to multiple factors as the underlying index aims at countering the cyclical theory of single factor index structure strategy.
The Nifty Alpha Low Volatility 30 index consists of 30 stocks selected from Nifty 100 and Nifty Midcap 50 based on top combination of alpha and low volatility. The weights of the stocks are derived from alpha and low volatility factor scores with individual stock weight capped at five percent. The index methodology is factor weighted and re-balanced semi-annually.
‘This multifactor smart beta strategy addresses high sector concentration of single factor based index strategies through diversification of factor-risk exposures and exhibiting lower performance swings,” said Nimesh Shah (above-right), MD & CEO, ICICI Prudential AMC.
BEA becomes market-maker of own structured warrants
The Bank of East Asia (BEA), one of the professional warrants and callable bull/bear contracts (CBBCs) issuers in Hong Kong, has licensed Horizon Software’s electronic trading and algorithmic technology to handle the market making of warrants.
The bank will use the Horizon Hosting and Managed Services following its decision to stop outsourcing the market making of its own issued warrants/CBBCs and handle the process internally. The solution, which went live at the end of May 2020, provides software, as well as hosting and managed services.
BEA is a top three issuer of structured products in Hong Kong SAR in terms of market share although at a significant distance from the top two providers – Hang Seng Bank and HSBC Bank, according to SRP data.
The bank has over 230 live structures in Hong Kong SAR’s market worth an estimated US$2.4 billion and 130 live products in China worth an estimated US$1.9 billion
RJO Mena buys Lombard Forte Securities
RJ O’Brien & Associates Mena, the regional subsidiary of Chicago-based futures broker RJ O’Brien & Associates, has acquired Lombard Forte Securities, a Dubai-based interdealer broker. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed.
The move expands both RJO’s presence in the region and its product range. Lombard specialises in cash equities, equity derivatives, structured product and exchange traded funds.
As part of the deal, Lombard’s chief executive and co-founder, Kunal Savjani, will take on the role of senior executive officer at RJO Mena as well as managing director, global head of equities and credit sales for RJ O’Brien.
The transaction includes the acquisition of Lombard Investment Solutions - an investment company part of Forte Securities group which provides bespoke and innovative structured solutions to financial institutions, private banks, wealth managers and family offices.
C-Trade launches crypto derivatives with 150x leverage
C-Trade has launched a crypto derivatives exchange platform with up to 150 times leverage on derivative products to ‘[transform] the world of trading to allow all global traders to trade fairly and efficiently’.
With the new platform, traders’ requests are approved in minutes instead of having to wait for hours to execute withdrawal. C-Trade’s order matching and risk management engine is more than 20 times faster than the industry standard, while the overall trading experience is enhanced with a tight spread and high liquidity, according to co-founder Edmund Lee (right), a former professional poker player and founder of a successful crypto asset management firm.
Established in 2019, C-Trade is a next-generation cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform designed created by an international team of derivatives traders and developers with experience at JP Morgan, Société Générale among others. The platform offers 24/7 support, with real-time phone help from a professional, multilingual technical support team.
All assets traded on the platform are ‘safely stored’ in multi-signature cold wallets. C-Trade’s affiliate program offers up to 40% trading fee commissions.
ETC Group's bitcoin ETP hits US$49m AUM in two months
ETC Group has reported that its centrally cleared bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) has accumulated up to US$49 million in assets under management since launch on June 18 2020.
The contract, known as Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto (BTCE), tracks the price of BTC and is 100% physically backed by the cryptocurrency. It started trading on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra electronic trading market in June with a total expense ratio of two percent – a measure of the total cost of the fund to the investor.
According to ETC Group, a London-based financial services firm, the tracker was the most traded non-leveraged asset on Xetra’s exchange-traded notes segment in July, with volumes of more than US$67 million.
One BTCE is equivalent to 0.001 bitcoin, less fees, allowing the holder of each unit of the derivative a claim on a specific amount of bitcoin, according to ETC Group. The asset is redeemable in either BTC or cash.
For every unit of the ETP, there is bitcoin stored in regulated, institutional-grade safe – identified as the Bitgo Trust Company. Products such as these are key to introducing retail investors who might be risk-averse to bitcoin, according to the firm.