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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Countries Fight Over Periodic Table as China Hoards Rare Earths
Quick geology lesson: There are 17 types of rare earths, and they're used as the building blocks in cars, semiconductors, missiles, drones, and more. China mines 70% and processes 90% of the world's supply. China's massive rock collection has become one of its most important bargaining chips, and as the country tightens its grip on rare earths exports, the global supply chain is showing cracks. This week, world leaders raised the alarm, with EU trade officials emphasizing yesterday the bloc's urgent need to reduce its dependence on rare earths from China. READ ALSO: US Service Economy Suffers Unexpected Trade War Blow and Unshackled Wells Fargo Fights to Regain Momentum Lost in Penalty Box When POTUS Trump raised global import tariffs in April, China said, 'Bet,' and rolled out retaliatory restrictions on seven kinds of rare earths and the magnets made from them. At the same time, China cracked down on illegal smuggling of the valuable elements that had made previous export curbs less effective. Last year, China halted exports of three rare minerals critical for making computer chips, EV batteries, and military weapons systems. Now, auto manufacturing seems to be the first major industry feeling the effects of its mineral deficiency: Ford temporarily stopped churning out SUVs at a Chicago plant last week because of a shortage of magnets, which are used not only in electric vehicle power systems but also in various components of gas-powered cars, such as power windows and headlights. Finance chief Sherry House said yesterday that restrictions are putting stress on Ford's system. Mercedes-Benz's production chief noted that it's chatting with suppliers about building up reserves, while BMW said its supply chain has been disrupted but its factories are still running. China's passing out a limited number of export permits, but experts say it's not enough to keep production running smoothly. For now, the auto industry has a stockpile of magnets to fall back on, but it's only expected to last a few months at most. Digging Deep: The US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bring rare earth production stateside since 2020, but it's still in the early stages of building the complicated supply chain (rare earths require more than 100 steps to process). In the meantime, US officials are pushing for access to Ukraine's rare earths, while automakers are trying to develop parts that require fewer or no rare earths. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to have a discussion this week that'll highlight export restrictions. It could be a tad awkward after Trump posted on social media that Xi is 'VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO MAKE A DEAL WITH.' This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. To receive delivering razor sharp analysis and perspective on all things finance, economics, and markets, subscribe to our free The Daily Upside newsletter.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
American Century's Head of ETF Solutions to Depart
American Century is losing its head of ETF solutions, Rene Casis, who joined the firm just before it launched its first exchange-traded fund in 2018. In regulatory filings late last week, the company disclosed that Casis will soon no longer be a portfolio manager on 11 ETFs. An American Century spokesperson confirmed in an email that Casis will leave the company in about three weeks to 'pursue another opportunity' and that a search is underway for a successor. 'His last day managing portfolios is June 11,' the spokesperson said. 'He remains with the firm until June 20 to assist as needed.' This story was originally published on The Daily Upside. To receive exclusive news and analysis of the rapidly evolving ETF landscape, built for advisors and capital allocators, subscribe to our free ETF Upside newsletter. With about $60 billion in assets among its 47 ETFs, American Century is not one of the biggest players in the industry, though still among the top 20 ETF issuers broadly. But the company has made a niche in actively managed ETFs, with a focus on semitransparent ETFs, which disclose their holdings quarterly, rather than daily, and show a proxy basket of securities to give investors a rough idea about the portfolios. Through its Avantis Investors subsidiary, American Century is among the four biggest active ETF issuers by assets. Casis, who has been with the firm as it built out its active and semitransparent ETF business, is a portfolio manager on several products with that structure. While six of the 11 ETFs he is on have two portfolio managers, others have larger teams. The largest ETFs that Casis helps manage include: US Quality Growth ETF — $1.5 billion, team of two managers Quality Diversified International ETF — $326 million, two managers Focused Dynamic Growth ETF — $284 million, four managers Focused Large Cap Value ETF — $253 million, five managers Moving On: All but one of the nine $1-billion-plus ETFs in the company's line are managed by, and branded under, its Avantis Investors subsidiary. Casis is not part of that unit. 'Generally we have a constructive view of the ETF business under American Century,' said Hyunmin Kim, an analyst on Morningstar's multi-asset strategies research team. 'Avantis is a bright spot.' The post American Century's Head of ETF Solutions to Depart appeared first on The Daily Upside. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vanguard's 2 New Muni ETFs Have an Advantage Over Mutual Funds
Who wants some beta? Vanguard rounded out its municipal bond fund suite last week with a pair of passively managed tax-exempt funds: the Long-Term Tax-Exempt Bond and New York Tax-Exempt Bond ETFs. The strategies are new, not replicating existing mutual funds from the company's extensive product line. There are, however, two active mutual funds in the same category, the Admiral shares of which charge 9 basis points — the same fee charged by the passive ETFs. But there is still a draw for index-level returns, or beta. 'Some clients just want the beta,' along with the low cost and ease of operation with an ETF, said Perryne Desai, senior fixed income product manager for the two new funds. 'Now that bonds are actually yielding something and they are a safe harbor … there is no better time to be in fixed income. There's no better time to be in munis.' This story was originally published on The Daily Upside. To receive exclusive news and analysis of the rapidly evolving ETF landscape, built for advisors and capital allocators, subscribe to our free ETF Upside newsletter. Vanguard has been building out its muni bond ETF line for two years, Jeff DeMaso, editor of The Independent Vanguard Adviser, said in a statement about the launch. With the additions, Vanguard has two dozen muni mutual funds and ETFs. The two new products 'won't turn heads but are practical additions to Vanguard's roster,' DeMaso said. And they don't necessarily offer a cost advantage over two existing active mutual funds, unless one takes into account the $50,000 minimum needed for Vanguard's Admiral shares — the Investor shares, which have a $3,000 minimum, charge 17 basis points for the Long-Term and 14 for the New York version. 'If you are willing to own a mutual fund (over an ETF), you can get Vanguard's active management for free,' DeMaso said. 'That's a good deal in my book.' Some of the details about the active funds: The Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund, at $16.9 billion, has trailing returns of 0.26% over a year, 2.9% over three years, and 0.76% over five years, data from Morningstar show. The New York Long-Term Tax-Exempt Fund, at $5.1 billion, returned 0.28% over a year, 3.04% over three years, and 0.73% over five. Better for the Beta: The new ETFs are managed by Vanguard's fixed income group, whose track record in active management benefits the index team, Desai said, citing the example of the nearly 10-year-old Tax-Exempt Bond ETF, which has a beta of 0.97, according to Morningstar. 'Our tracking error is pretty darn tight, and in municipals, that's difficult to accomplish.' The post Vanguard's 2 New Muni ETFs Have an Advantage Over Mutual Funds appeared first on The Daily Upside.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Salesforce Boosts Bet on Agentic AI With $8B Informatica Takeover
The forecast is cloudy with a high chance of AI for Salesforce after its agreement to pay $8 billion for software firm Informatica, which manages cloud data for companies from Toyota to Unilever. Salesforce's offer beat out competitors including Cloud Software Group and Thoma Bravo, according to The Wall Street Journal. The purchase would be Salesforce's biggest since its $28 billion acquisition of Slack in 2021. This story was originally published on The Daily Upside. To receive delivering razor sharp analysis and perspective on all things finance, economics, and markets, subscribe to our free The Daily Upside newsletter. AI agents are the next level of AI assistants. Instead of answering simple queries, they're built to perform complex tasks autonomously — such as answering customer service calls. Salesforce offers AI-agent services like the above through its 'Agentforce' platform, for which it has closed more than 1,000 deals so far. Last week, Salesforce expanded the platform to financial services with virtual representatives that can, for instance, make loan recommendations. The Informatica acquisition will enable Salesforce to continue scaling up its platform, helping to create 'the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry,' Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said. But Salesforce isn't the only company pushing into agentic AI: Microsoft began launching AI agents last year, including an 'Interpreter' that can live-translate nine languages in Teams meetings and a 'Project Manager' that can create plans, assign tasks, and track them. OpenAI introduced a new agent that can code this month, its third agentic offering, while cloud provider Oracle offers more than 50 specialized AI agents. Meta expects its AI model to power agents that'll be used by hundreds of millions of businesses. Future-Proofing: Salesforce has been under pressure to pump up profits since activist investing firm Elliott Management took a stake in the tech company two years ago. After years of backing off acquisitions to preserve capital, Salesforce is once again making deals with the hope that they'll pay off in the long run. The Informatica deal is on the smaller side compared with some of Salesforce's past purchases, and considering how hyped Big Tech is about agentic AI, it has a lot of potential upside. Earlier this month, Salesforce signed an agreement to buy Convergence, another company that would boost its AI agent offerings. The post Salesforce Boosts Bet on Agentic AI With $8B Informatica Takeover appeared first on The Daily Upside. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State Street, Apollo to Launch 2nd Public-Private ETF
Ladies and gentlemen, State Street may have just done it again. The leading asset manager filed to launch a second exchange-traded fund that would give investors exposure to both private and public investments in a single vehicle — something that had never been done until just a few months ago. The SPDR SSGA Short Duration IG Public & Private Credit ETF is expected to allocate at least 80% of the fund's net assets in a portfolio of investment-grade debt securities, and typically anywhere from 10% to 35% in private credit, according to a filing on Friday. It will mark the second such fund from the powerhouse partnership between State Street and Apollo Global as a laundry list of firms try to open up private credit to Main Street investors. 'An ETF with a short-duration profile makes sense,' said Jason Kephart, a senior principal at Morningstar. 'It's easy to slice-and-dice based on maturities.' This story was originally published on The Daily Upside. To receive exclusive news and analysis of the rapidly evolving ETF landscape, built for advisors and capital allocators, subscribe to our free ETF Upside newsletter. States Street's Short Duration IG Public & Private Credit ETF will invest in a 'wide range' of private credit, like instruments that are directly originated, issued in private offerings or to private companies, and even by non-bank lenders, according to the release. What stands out about the filing — and differentiates it from the company's first public-private ETF launch PRIV in February — is the duration. Bond products, and credit, generally have short, intermediate and long-term varieties that give investors time-period options to lock up their money. Short-duration products, in particular, are attractive to investors dealing with less stable businesses, Kephart said. 'Investors that want to lend to riskier companies can get their money back faster — and that probably does have some appeal to people,' he said. While details are still emerging, the filing revealed: The product may invest up to 20% of its net assets in high-yield securities, known as 'junk' bonds, according to the filing. The ETF may also use derivative instruments, like futures contracts, swaps, and options, to hedge currency exposure and manage yield. Fees and a ticker for the fund were not disclosed. 'For regulatory reasons, we cannot discuss funds that are pending SEC review,' said a State Street spokesperson. 'We are in a quiet period.' What Gives? State Street's PRIV, the OG of public-private ETFs, launched in late February, but has pulled in just $55 million in assets since, leaving some experts to worry about investor demand for the new products. Just $5 million in assets flowed into the fund in the first two weeks, and new investments have now almost completely dried up. 'Are financial advisors as excited about getting private assets into client portfolios as asset managers are about selling them?' Kephart said. 'We don't really know as of yet.' Some advisors have voiced concern that private asset managers may be looking to offload junk assets. They're also worried about liquidity, and if the interests of asset managers selling the products are actually aligned with those of their clients. 'It's a way to stand out,' Kephart said. 'If it's in the best interest of investors, it's fair to say … maybe.' The post State Street, Apollo to Launch 2nd Public-Private ETF appeared first on The Daily Upside. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
