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How to mitigate the cost of contango

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7 år sedan

den

12 april, 2017

Redaktionen

Asset Allocation Research How to mitigate the cost of contango

Highlights

An investor in commodities using futures contracts is not only exposed to the price of the raw material but also to the cost of holding a futures contract and rolling it from one contract to another.
To mitigate the cost of rolling (contango), investors need to add exposure to futures contracts with a longer shelf life where volatility is lower but expected return is also less.
Since 2002, a portfolio of both short and long maturity contracts outperformed short maturity only contracts by 6.5% per year, enhancing the Sharpe ratio to 0.26.

The mechanism of contango and backwardation continues to intrigue. While contango is known to reduce an investment’s overall return, questions remain as to whether it is possible to avoid it. In this note, we will focus on oil and particularly Brent, looking at the different elements investors should be aware of before considering investing in commodities as well as how to mitigate the negative impact of contango on the performance of a portfolio.

The futures curve

A futures curve is a series of prices of futures contracts that expire at different points in time (as illustrated below). Because each commodity follows its own fundamentals, the shape of the futures curve tends to vary from one commodity to another. Oil futures curves for example, tend to reflect market expectations on the future direction of oil prices.

The previous chart shows how the futures curve of Brent has moved since last year. The entire curve shifted upward with futures contracts at the short end of the curve benefitting most compared to contracts at the longer end of the curve.

The chart also shows that liquidity, measured by the traded volume on each futures contract, is higher at the short end of the futures curve where financial services and speculators tend to be concentrated. Smaller volumes at the longer end of the curve are usually commercial positions taken by consumers or producers of oil using the futures market as a hedge.

The impact of fundamentals

Because the futures curve is made of futures contracts that expire at different points in time, a change in the fundamentals will have variable impact on the price of each contract. An event such as the OPEC/non-OPEC agreement has the potential to keep the longer end of the future curve flat for a while as the market expects producers to continue controlling supply going forward. However, the current price support at the short end of the curve may vanish if the deal was to fail, deepening the contango at the short end of the curve.

The above chart shows that the correlation between the level of US oil inventories and oil prices at the short end of the curve is higher than the correlation with the longer end of the curve. Futures contracts at the short end are more sensitive to the change in supply, demand and inventories than the longer end. With US shale oil production on the rise, contango at the short end may deepen in the near term.

As a result, futures contracts with short-term maturity tend to be more volatile than contracts at the longer end as illustrated in the chart below. On the other hand, any gain or loss will be higher with short maturity contracts than long maturity contracts.

Long backwardation short contango

Because of the liquidity issue mentioned earlier, it is difficult for speculative investors to get exposure to the longer end of the curve. Most investors are therefore exposed to the short end of the curve where roll cost and volatility are the highest.

In this section, we look at whether it is possible to build a portfolio that will mitigate the negative impacts of contango on return by ensuring exposure to the best part of the curve. For this purpose, we have created the following three portfolios:

– Our benchmark is 50% in Brent futures contracts with an average maturity of one month and 50% in contracts that have an average maturity of two years.
– Two long only portfolios using the change in oil prices over the past month and the shape of the future curves at the end of the past month as trading signal. One portfolio invests in either the short end (Brent 1mth) or the longer end (Brent 2Yr) while the other portfolio will overweight the maturity highlighted by the signal and underweight the other maturity at the same time.

The performance chart shows that all the portfolios including the benchmark outperformed an exposure to the short maturity contract as holding Brent 1Mth since 2002 would have provided a return of 1.5% per year. Both long only portfolios outperformed the benchmark by 1.8% per year on average and the long only portfolio that alternates between Brent 1Mth and 2Yr outperformed Brent 2Yr by 0.2% per year.

In addition, the summary table highlights that both portfolios have a lower level of volatility than the benchmark and Brent 1Mth, allowing for an increase of the Sharpe ratio by 39% on average compared to the benchmark.
A maximum recovery time of more than 8 years for all the portfolios and constituents indicate that they have yet to recover to their previous peak in June 2008. With OPEC taking back control of their production level and US shale oil now profitable with a price around US$50/bbl., a recovery back above US$100/bbl. is simply unrealistic for the time being.

Looking at the performance since the beginning of 2016 when oil prices started to recover from a 13-year low, the long only portfolio with either Brent 1Mth or 2Yr is posting the highest Sharpe ratio at 0.69, followed by the long only portfolio combining both (0.66), Brent 1Mth (0.63), the 50/50 benchmark (0.57) and Brent 2Yr (0.50).

When using futures contracts to get exposure to commodities, an investor needs to be aware of the composition of the return the investor will get, as a gain in the commodity price does not necessarily translate in a gain in the investment’s overall return. When the futures curve is in contango, the cost of rolling from one contract to the other is deducted from the gain in price and will reduce the end return. While investors generally prefer an exposure to the short end of the curve due to liquidity, adding an allocation to futures contracts at the longer end can reduce the negative impact of contango and improve returns. Since 2002, the portfolio combining both maturities outperformed the short maturity exposure by 6.5% per year, enhancing the Sharpe ratio from -0.01 to 0.26. The strategy also allows for more diversification.

Important Information

This communication has been issued and approved for the purpose of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (“ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”).

The information contained in this communication is for your general information only and is neither an offer for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. This communication should not be used as the basis for any investment decision. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investments may go down in value.

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The Bitcoin Halving and Beyond

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18 timmar sedan

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22 april, 2024

Redaktionen

Discover the latest insights on the Bitcoin halving event.

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What is the Bitcoin Halving?

The Bitcoin halving is a programmed event that reduces the reward for mining new coins by 50% approximately every four years, ultimately limiting the total supply of Bitcoin, akin to the scarcity of gold. This mechanism, embedded in Bitcoin’s protocol, aims to maintain its value proposition as a decentralized, fixed and immutable monetary system, although its performance is influenced by various factors that go beyond the halving.

How are miners impacted by the halving?

The Bitcoin halving impacts miners through reduced block rewards and shifts in profitability, influenced by Bitcoin’s price fluctuations. Miners may seek refinancing options to sustain operations, while decreased mining difficulty during downturns encourages cost-effectiveness and strengthens the network. As a result of this cycle’s unique demand, miners are selling less BTC on exchanges, indicating a more bullish stance amidst price surges and increased market accessibility driven by ETF inflows.

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Disclaimer

The information provided does not constitute a prospectus or other offering material and does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction. Some of the information published herein may contain forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained herein may not be considered as economic, legal, tax or other advice and users are cautioned to base investment decisions or other decisions solely on the content hereof.

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Redaktionen

Anthony Ginsberg, VD för GinsGlobal Index Fund gick med Steve Darling från Proactive för att ge en översikt och uppdatering om Tech Megatrend ETF (T3KE). Ginsberg fördjupade sig i fondens globala räckvidd och strategiska tillvägagångssätt och lyfte fram dess utmärkande egenskaper, investeringsmetod i utvecklande tekniskt landskap och investeringsstrategi.

Tech Megatrend ETF utmärker sig för sitt globala fotavtryck och omfattar ett mångsidigt teknikriktmärke med cirka 60 % exponering mot den amerikanska marknaden och betydande allokeringar till Japan, Kina och Europa. Till skillnad från NASDAQ, som är starkt koncentrerad till ett fåtal stora teknikföretag, använder GinsGlobal Index Fund ett lika viktat tillvägagångssätt över sina 120 innehav, där inget enskilt innehav normalt överstiger 2 %.

Denna strategi gör det möjligt för fonden att fånga ett brett spektrum av teknikunderteman, inklusive digital underhållning, sociala medier, blockchain, elfordon, cybersäkerhet, artificiell intelligens och robotik. Ginsberg underströk fondens gynnsamma pris-till-vinst-förhållande, som för närvarande svävar runt 18 gånger, vilket tyder på att dess aktier inte är övervärderade jämfört med vissa marknadssegment. Han lyfte också fram potentialen för expansion bortom megabolagsbolag, understödd av positiva ekonomiska indikatorer i USA och möjligheten till lägre räntor, vilket kan båda gott för medel- och småbolagsaktier.

När det gäller förvärvstrender noterade Ginsberg det aktiva engagemanget från både stora och medelstora företag i fusioner och förvärv, med medelstora företag som representerar attraktiva mål som inte utlöser antitrustproblem.

Han diskuterade också de potentiella effekterna av en stark dollar och den amerikanska regeringens initiativ som syftar till att minska beroendet av utländsk teknologi, vilket kan stärka Nordamerikas konkurrenskraft och stimulera landningstrender. Sammanfattningsvis belyser Ginsbergs insikter det dynamiska landskapet inom tekniksektorn och den strategiska positioneringen av Tech Megatrend ETF inom den.

Eftersom fonden fortsätter att navigera i marknadstrender och dra nytta av nya möjligheter, kan investerare förvänta sig att dra nytta av dess diversifierade portfölj och framtidsinriktade investeringsstrategi. Håll ögonen öppna för ytterligare uppdateringar eftersom GinsGlobal Index Fund fortsätter att driva innovation och tillväxt inom teknikområdet.

Handla T3KE ETF

HANetf HAN-GINS Tech Megatrend Equal Weight UCITS ETF (T3KE ETF) är en europeisk börshandlad fond som handlas på bland annat London Stock Exchange och tyska Xetra.

Det betyder att det går att handla andelar i denna ETF genom de flesta svenska banker och Internetmäklare, till exempel DEGIRO, Nordnet, Aktieinvest och Avanza.

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JPHG ETF ger exponering mot 400 japanska aktier, hedgat i brittiska pund

Publicerad

20 timmar sedan

den

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Redaktionen

Amundi JPX Nikkei 400 UCITS ETF Daily Hedged GBP (JPHG ETF) med ISIN LU1681039308, försöker följa JPX-Nikkei 400 (GBP Hedged) index. JPX-Nikkei 400 (GBP Hedged)-index spårar 400 japanska aktier. Aktierna väljs i huvudsak utifrån avkastning på eget kapital och ackumulerat rörelseresultat. Valutasäkrad till brittiska pund (GBP).

Den börshandlade fondens TER (total cost ratio) uppgår till 0,18 % p.a. Amundi JPX Nikkei 400 UCITS ETF Daily Hedged GBP är den enda ETF som följer JPX-Nikkei 400 (GBP Hedged) index. Denna ETF replikerar resultatet för det underliggande indexet syntetiskt med en swap. Utdelningarna i ETFen ackumuleras och återinvesteras.

Amundi JPX Nikkei 400 UCITS ETF Daily Hedged GBP är en mycket liten ETF med tillgångar på 3 miljoner euro under förvaltning. Denna ETF lanserades den 28 maj 2015 och har sin hemvist i Luxemburg.

Investeringsmål

Amundi JPX Nikkei 400 UCITS ETF Daily Hedged GBP strävar efter att så nära som möjligt replikera utvecklingen av utvecklingen för det yendenominerade JPX-Nikkei 400-indexet (återinvesterade nettoutdelningar), oavsett om trenden är stigande eller fallande och har en månatlig valutasäkring i GBP. Denna ETF gör det möjligt för investerare att dra nytta av en exponering mot ett urval av japanska aktier utvalda enligt kvantitativa kriterier och kvalitativa kriterier för bolagsstyrning, och viktade enligt deras börsvärde.

Handla JPHG ETF

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London Stock Exchange är en marknad som få svenska banker och nätmäklare erbjuder access till, men DEGIRO gör det.

Börsnoteringar

Börs	Valuta	Kortnamn
gettex	EUR	18MQ
Euronext Paris	GBP	JPHG
London Stock Exchange	GBX	JPHG
SIX Swiss Exchange	GBP	JPHG

Största innehav

Denna fond använder syntetisk replikering för att spåra indexets prestanda.

Namn	Valuta	Vikt %	Sektor
TOKYO ELECTRON JPY50	JPY	2,40 %	Informationsteknologi
TOYOTA MOTOR CORP	JPY	2,08 %	Sällanköpsvaror
MITSUBISHI CORPORATION	JPY	2,08 %	Industri
HITACHI LTD	JPY	2,05 %	Industri
SHIN-ETSU CHEM CO JPY50	JPY	1,88 %	Materials
RECRUIT HOLDINGS CO LTD	JPY	1,85 %	Industri
MITSUI & CO LTD	JPY	1,82 %	Industri
SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP	JPY	1,81 %	Finans
MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP	JPY	1,81 %	Finans
TOKIO MARINE HOLDINGS INC	JPY	1,68 %	Finans