A tactical play to political uncertainties

A tactical play to political uncertainties ETF SecuritiesA tactical play to political uncertainties

ETF Securities Asset Allocation Research – A tactical play to political uncertainties

Highlights

  • For February, the tactical portfolio is reducing its allocation in US and French equities while overweighting Canada, India, Brazil, Russia and Turkey.
  • After two months underweighting most bonds except US investment grade, the tactical portfolio is taking a neutral position on rising interest rates and inflation expectations.
  • Within commodities, the portfolio tactically underweights nickel and tin, increasing allocation in corn and sugar while remaining neutral on energy and precious metals.

For February, the tactical portfolio is reducing its allocation in US and French equities while overweighting Canada, India, Brazil, Russia and Turkey.

After two months underweighting most bonds except US investment grade, the tactical portfolio is taking a neutral position on rising interest rates and inflation expectations.

Within commodities, the portfolio tactically underweights nickel and tin, increasing allocation in corn and sugar while remaining neutral on energy and precious metals.

Political uncertainties around the world are growing and may last longer than the market expects. While the divorce between the UK and the EU remains full of uncertainties, the German, French and Dutch elections are likely to add further uncertainty. Although we feel many elections pledges are unlikely to become a reality, the US may not be the trade partner the UK is seeking for as, since his inauguration, President Trump has been loosely delivering on what he has promised during his campaign. While market volatility has not picked-up yet, inflation is rising in the US, EU and UK, increasing the risk of central bank policy errors.

February 2017 positioning

Although very close to its lower band, the market volatility index (VIX) still stands between its historical average and its lower band, suggesting a more balanced tactical split between equities and bonds. The portfolio therefore has 45% in equities, 45% in bonds and 10% in commodities while its strategic benchmark holds 55% in equities, 35% in bonds and 10% in commodities.

Within the equity space, the CAPE (Cyclically Adjusted Price to Earning) valuation model suggests reducing allocation in the US and four European countries while overweighting Canada, Brazil, Russia, India and Turkey. European countries to underweight include France but also Italy, Denmark and, due to rising valuations, Sweden replacing the Netherlands this month. The US CAPE ratio is at its highest since December 2014, standing 47% above its 10-years median. For January positioning, the France CAPE ratio was also at its highest since 2007 before declining slightly this month. Among the countries at the other end of the spectrum, Brazil and Russia continue to show the largest differentials between their CAPE ratios and their respective 10-year medians, suggesting that these countries remain largely undervalued and justifying a tactical increase in their weights.

The below table highlights how our tactical positions have changed for the past three months compared to the strategic benchmark and our new positions for February.


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For November and December 2016, the bond model suggested to underweight most bond categories with the exception of US investment grade, as inflation expectations and interest rate expectations in the US and the EU were at a turning point. Last month, the model suggested returning to the strategic portfolio weights as both rates were rising in tandem. With the CDS (Credit Default Swap) of each bond hovering around its historical average, the tactical portfolio keeps a neutral position for February as well.

For commodities, the contrarian model is taking a complete shift for grains and softs from underweighting wheat, soybeans, cotton and coffee for January positioning to overweighting corn and sugar for February. While the model suggested underweighting copper, lead and overweighting zinc for January, it now suggests underweighting nickel and tin. The model has been tactically neutral on precious metals for the second consecutive month and shifts from overweight to neutral on energy.

Portfolio performance

The tactical portfolio still has the lowest level of volatility compared to a traditional balanced 60/40 portfolio, and the strategic benchmark, improving the Sharpe ratio by 35% on average to 0.44 compared to 0.37 for the 60/40 and 0.30 for the strategic portfolio.


(click to enlarge)

Whilst underperforming the 60/40 benchmark by 0.2%, the tactical portfolio outperforms its strategic benchmark by 0.6% per year since January 2005.


(click to enlarge)

With the exception of equities, each asset class in the tactical portfolio outperforms its counterpart in the 60/40 and strategic benchmarks. The bond component outperforms by 0.6% on average while the commodity component outperforms by 0.2%, illustrating the efficiency of our fundamental-based models in improving the risk/return profile of their respective asset class as well as the tactical portfolio.

In addition, the tactical portfolio provides higher protection from the downside risk with a maximum drawdown of -27.2% compared to -38.5% for the 60/40 and -39% for the strategic benchmark.

Finally, the portfolio recovers faster to its previous peak (2.42 years versus 3.25 years for both benchmarks).

Portfolio methodologies

Our strategic benchmark follows a long-only strategy with 60 investments across three asset classes: commodities (25), equities (28) and bonds (7). As illustrated below, the initial weights are based on the weighting methodology of:

The Bloomberg Commodity Index for commodities

The MSCI AC World Index for equities

The Barclays bond indices for bonds

(click to enlarge)

The strategic portfolio represents a balanced portfolio with 55%, 35% and 10% allocated in equities, bonds and commodities respectively. Every month, the strategic portfolio rebalances into the weights set by the above benchmarks.

Our tactical portfolio aims to outperform its strategic benchmark by applying fundamental-based models to reflect our expertise in each asset class and our views of the global economy. The tactical portfolio rebalances every month to a new set of weights determined by the models below:

The equity-bond relative trade model sets the weights at the asset class level between equities and bonds while commodities will remain at 10% all the time

The CAPE model sets the weight for equities

The bond model sets the weight for bonds1

The contrarian model sets the weight for commodities

Important Information

General

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.

This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.

This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data. Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.

ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.

Commodity volatility expected

Commodity volatility expected

ETF Securities Commodities Research: Commodity volatility expected as China liberalises financial markets

Commodity volatility expected as China liberalises financial markets

Summary

China is both one of the largest producers and consumers of most commodities. Yet financial centres in the UK and US are responsible for setting global prices for many commodities.

China seeks to expand its role in the intermediation and price setting of global commodities. However a key hurdle is currency restrictions and capitals controls.

While timing of any currency and capital market reform is unclear, dismantling these restrictions could unwind large carry-trades that use commodities as collateral, introducing a new source of volatility to the asset class.

China and commodity demand

China’s role in the upward phase of the commodity supercycle remains largely undisputed: resource-intensive economic growth, led by urbanisation, industrialisation, and a growth in global trade between the mid-1990s and the financial crisis in 2008 drove demand for commodities higher. With supply unable to keep up with demand, prices rose substantially higher. Although more volatile, commodities prices have a fairly strong correlation to China’s GDP growth.

China’s commodity futures markets

Futures markets are an integral part of the global financial market infrastructure, as they allow both consumers and producers of commodities to hedge. Hedgers are typically on the short side of futures markets and thus need to offer positive risk premia to attract speculators on the long side.i By bringing a large number of financial investors to the long side, financialisation of commodities mitigates this hedging pressure and improves risk sharing.

Although China is the largest consumer of commodities, its development of a futures market in commodities only took place after the onset of the commodity supercycle (and many commodities have been added in the downward phase of the cycle). The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) started trading copper and aluminium in 1999 and added zinc (2007), gold (2008), nickel (2014).
The volume of gold and copper traded on the SHFE has been rising, highlighting the traction that the market for these metals has been gaining in China.

Global ambitions require currency policy change

China seeks to play a larger role in the intermediation of commodities internationally. It recognises it is the largest consumer and producer of many commodities, yet relies on financial centres outside of China for the setting of prices. Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said at the SHFE’s annual conference in May 2016 “We’re facing a chance of a lifetime to become a global pricing center for commodities”. Due to currency restrictions, trading in raw materials is largely off-limits to overseas investors. However, that is an issue that China has long pledged to change. Any change in currency policy will likely be a strong catalyst for the growth of China’s commodity futures market.

Distortions in Chinese commodities…

Closed capital markets and currency restrictions have led to some unusual practices in China. China’s interest rate is higher than many other countries (especially developed market interest rates which in some cases are below zero). If Chinese investors were able to borrow in foreign currencies they could engage in a typical carry trade and arbitrage from the rate differential (subject to currency market moves). However, capital restrictions which stop domestic investors accessing foreign loans and exchange rate management violate the so called ‘covered interest rate parity’.

However a loophole exists. In order to make Chinese manufacturers more profitable, the authorities allow them to use work in process inventory such as copper, tin, aluminium (or even finished inventory) as collateral for loans. A manufacturer can go to a local bank and ask to borrow in US dollars or euros or yen etc. at low interest rates using commodity as collateral. The funds will be delivered to the manufacturer in Yuan and can be deposited at high interest rates. The local bank would verify to the People’s Bank of China (PBoC, the central bank) that the collateral is sitting in a warehouse (i.e. is bonded) and the PBoC will use an offshore entity to borrow the funds (which it will then pass to the local bank).The existence of the facility could be artificially inflating demand for commodity imports into China.

The risk with opening up currency markets therefore is that this carry trade could fall away and unlock a substantial amount of commodities tied up in bonded warehouses to industrial usage.

It is estimated that in 2014 about US$109 billion foreign exchange loans in China were backed by commodities as collateral, equivalent to 31% of China’s short-term FX loans and 14% of China’s total FX loans.ii In 2014, China imported US$1.7 trillion of commodities. The estimated amount of financing therefore represents about 6% of imports. In the worst case scenario if all those commodities were to unwind (a scenario we don’t believe will occur), there could be a 6% supply shock, which would be price negative. A collateral unwind of a smaller magnitude, we believe will still lead to commodity price volatility.

Copper is probably most at risk. Close to half of current copper demand in China could be from the copper carry trade.

…including gold

A similar trade exists in gold. Imported gold is being used via gold loans and letters of credit to raise low cost funds for business investment and speculation. Financial liberalisation could also see these trades unwind.
In 1950 China had prohibited private ownership of bullion and put the gold industry under state control. With the creation of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) in 2002, formal prohibition on gold bullion was lifted in 2004. China has embraced this relatively new opportunity to own gold, with the country overtaking India as the largest consumer gold coins and bars. Despite the cultural affinity to buy and store gold, those stocks can be monetised. Gold leasing i.e. the ability for banks to loan out gold has seen rapid growth. Gold can also be used as collateral for borrowing from banks as long as it meets the SGE criteria. Once again this collateral-based lending could fall away if access to unsecured loans is improved.

We expect any movement to a freer currency and open capital markets to be gradual. But that transition could introduce volatility to global commodity prices as collateral carry trades in China unwind.

i Keynes (1923), Hicks (1939), Hirshleiffer (1988)
ii “Commodities as Collateral” in forthcoming Review of Financial Studies by Ke Tang (Tsingua University) and Haoxiang Zhu (MIT Sloan School of Management), April 2016

Important Information

General

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.

This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares or securities in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.

This communication may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. Although ETFS UK endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content in this communication, ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee its accuracy or correctness. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data.

Where ETFS UK has expressed its own opinions related to product or market activity, these views may change. Neither ETFS UK, nor any affiliate, nor any of their respective officers, directors, partners, or employees accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication or its contents.

ETFS UK is required by the FCA to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.

Oil Continues to Rally

Oil Continues to Rally

ETF Securities Commodity ETP Weekly Oil Continues to Rally

Profit-taking drives US$58.1mn out of oil ETPs.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Nickel (LNIK) sees its highest weekly inflows since inception in 2008.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Tin (LTIM) had its second highest weekly flow since inception in 2008.

Download the complete report (.pdf)

With oil prices staging a premature recovery, many investors are taking profit. Global oil supply has not yet tightened, pointing to a geopolitical premium on oil prices accounting for the recent price gains. We believe there could be a correction in the short-term, but prices will continue to rise once supply starts to tighten. Tightening supply has also driven tin prices higher and we expect a similar trend across most industrial metals this year. Falling energy prices has not reduced production costs for metals sufficiently to restore profitability and supply cuts are the likely course for most metals.

Profit-taking drives US$58.1mn out of long oil ETPs. With Brent and WTI oil prices bouncing a further 1.4% and 1.8% respectively last week, more investors took profit on their positions. Last week was the third consecutive week of outflows as the price of Brent and WTI have gained 16% and 22% respectively over that period. Recent gains however appear excessive given the fundamentals. The positive reaction to a slower inventory build in the US two weeks ago was somewhat premature, given that last week inventories grew at a quicker pace than expected. All indications point to OPEC continuing to produce more oil, with March output from the cartel surging 810,000 barrels per day. Geopolitical risk has added a premium to the oil price, with Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen, threatening to destabilize the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. The strait is a transit point for 3.8 million barrels per day of oil, or 4% of global oil supply. Any easing of the instability in Yemen could see the premium dissipate relatively quickly. Moreover, Saudi Arabia could continue to increase the amount of oil it produces, which would pull down prices. In March it increased oil production by 660,000 barrels per day. A short-term correction in oil prices could once again open up an opportunity to go long oil for many investors ahead of the next OPEC meeting in June, where we expect talk of modest cuts to production to help prices increase once again.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Nickel (LNIK) sees its highest weekly inflows since inception in 2008.
LNIK received US$2.2mn of inflows last week, following the International Nickel Study Group’s April meeting in Lisbon where it predicted that nickel usage will increase to 1.94Mt in 2015 from 1.87Mt in 2014. At the same time it forecasts production will decrease to 1.96Mt in 2015 from 1.99Mt in 2014, helping to tighten the supply surplus this year.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Tin (LTIM) had its second highest weekly flow since inception in 2008. Sharp price gains attracted US$1.6mn of inflows into LTIM. With Indonesia’s largest tin producer cutting output by as much as 50%, tin prices accelerated last week, gaining 3.4%. Tin prices had slumped by more 35% in the past year, increasing the urgency to cut back on production by the largest producing country.

Key events to watch this week. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet this week to decide on interest rates. This will be last meeting before June and will not be accompanied by a press conference. The market will therefore remain very attentive to FOMC member speeches and public engagements to glean any information about the possible path of rate increases this year.

Video Presentation

Nitesh Shah, Research Analyst at ETF Securities provides an analysis of last week’s performance, flow and trading activity in commodity exchange traded products and a look at the week ahead.

For more information contact

ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com

Important Information

General

This communication has been provided by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (”ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.

This is a strictly privileged and confidential communication between ETFS UK and its selected client. This communication contains information addressed only to a specific individual and is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person other than the named addressee. This communication (i) is provided for informational purposes only, (ii) should not be construed in any manner as any solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or any related financial instruments, and (iii) should not be construed in any manner as a public offer of any securities or any related financial instruments. If you are not the named addressee, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this communication. Please notify the sender immediately if you have mistakenly received this communication. When being made within Italy, this communication is for the exclusive use of the ”qualified investors” and its circulation among the public is prohibited.

This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.

This document may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or correctness of any information contained herein and any opinions related to product or market activity may change. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data.

Any historical performance included in this document may be based on back testing. Back tested performance is purely hypothetical and is provided in this document solely for informational purposes. Back tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance.

Historical performance is not an indication of or a guide to future performance.

The information contained in this communication 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.

ETFS UK is required by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (”FCA”) to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.

Risk Warnings

Any products referenced in this document are generally aimed at sophisticated, professional and institutional investors. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the prospectus (and any supplements thereto) of the relevant product issue. The price of any securities may go up or down and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Securities may valued in currencies other than those in which there are priced and will be affected by exchange rate movements. Investments in the securities which provide a short and/or leveraged exposure are only suitable for sophisticated, professional and institutional investors who understand leveraged and compounded daily returns and are willing to magnify potential losses by comparison to investments which do not incorporate these strategies. Over periods of greater than one day, investments with a short and/or leveraged exposure do not necessarily provide investors with a return equivalent to a return from the unleveraged long or unleveraged short investments multiplied by the relevant leverage factor. Investors should refer to the section entitled ”Risk Factors” in the relevant prospectus for further details of these and other risks associated with an investment in any securities referenced in this communication.

If you have any questions please contact ETFS UK at +44 20 7448 4330 or info@etfsecurities.com for more information.

Commodities at a Turning Point?

Commodities at a Turning Point?

Highlights Commodities at a Turning Point?

Gold ETPs saw first inflow in five weeks
Agricultural basket ETPs saw their largest inflows since January 2013
ETFS Daily Leveraged Natural Gas received US$10.0mn of inflows, the highest since February 2014
Price gains in industrial metals attracted flows into copper, while driving profit-taking elsewhere

 

Download the complete report (.pdf)

 

Most commodity prices bounced back last week, attracting flows into a diverse range of commodity ETCs from gold to agricultural baskets. Gold ETPs saw their first inflows in a month as dovish Federal Open Market Committee minutes led to dollar weakness, while weak German data renewed interest in the hard defensive assets. With the exception of cocoa, all agricultural prices rose last week. Agricultural baskets saw their largest inflows in 20 months, bringing the year-to-date flows into agricultural baskets into positive territory for the first time since April 2014.

Gold ETPs saw first inflow in five weeks. Gold ETPs received US$18.3mn of inflows last week as the price of gold rose 1.2% in US dollar terms, amid US currency weakness following the dovish Federal Reserve meeting minutes release. With gold prices having fallen close to the marginal cost of production and speculative futures market shorts positions having risen close to all-time highs, last week’s bounce could trigger a short-covering rally helping to sustain momentum in the upward trend. Additionally weak data from Germany unscored the fragile state of the Euro area, bolstering the case for further easing from the European Central Bank, which may strengthen demand for gold as a monetary metal. At the same time physical demand for the gold is likely to see a seasonal lift from the upcoming Diwali celebrations in India (23rd October).

Agricultural basket ETPs saw their largest inflows since January 2013. In particular, with US$22.7mn of inflows, ETFS Agriculture (AIGA) saw its largest inflow since inception (2006). That marks a decisive change in sentiment toward agricultural commodities, where speculative futures market shorts for wheat, corn, soy and sugar have risen to near-record highs amid bumper crop expectations. Corn prices rose 6.8% last week as US exports for the crop picked up strongly. Wheat ETPs saw their first outflow in 21 weeks. Investors had been steadily building positions in wheat as the price slid to the lowest level since 2010. Last week’s 2.2% bounce in price led to some profit-taking.

ETFS Daily Leveraged Natural Gas received US$10.0mn of inflows, the highest since February 2014. While most commodity prices rose last week, energy prices bucked the trend. With US natural gas prices falling a further 3.8% last week, investors bought leveraged exposure, expecting a seasonal increase in demand to shake out the bearish sentiment toward the commodity. Price gains in industrial metals attracted flows into copper, while driving profittaking elsewhere. With the exception of tin, all industrial metal prices rose last week.

ETFS Copper (COPA) received its first inflow in six weeks. Meanwhile profit taking saw US$11.1mn of outflows from ETFS Aluminium (ALUM), adding to the US$59.9mn of outflows the previous week, reversing all of the strong inflows we saw in July and August. ETFS Zinc (ZINC) saw US$2.9mn of outflows, the largest in eight weeks.

Key events to watch this week. A raft of Chinese economic data releases will help investors gauge the strength of the economy that drives the bulk of commodity demand globally. Chinese trade, loan growth, money supply growth, inflation and FX reserves growth data are due to be released next week. US retail sales will be closely watched as the Fed assesses the capacity of the US economy to accommodate rate increases next year.

Video Presentation

 

Nitesh Shah, Research Analyst at ETF Securities provides an analysis of last week’s performance, flow and trading activity in commodity exchange traded products and a look at the week ahead.

For more information contact

ETF Securities Research team
ETF Securities (UK) Limited
T +44 (0) 207 448 4336
E info@etfsecurities.com

 

Important Information

General

This communication has been provided by ETF Securities (UK) Limited (”ETFS UK”) which is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.

This is a strictly privileged and confidential communication between ETFS UK and its selected client. This communication contains information addressed only to a specific individual and is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person other than the named addressee. This communication (i) is provided for informational purposes only, (ii) should not be construed in any manner as any solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or any related financial instruments, and (iii) should not be construed in any manner as a public offer of any securities or any related financial instruments. If you are not the named addressee, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this communication. Please notify the sender immediately if you have mistakenly received this communication. When being made within Italy, this communication is for the exclusive use of the ”qualified investors” and its circulation among the public is prohibited.

This document is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, an advertisement or any other step in furtherance of a public offering of shares in the United States or any province or territory thereof. Neither this document nor any copy hereof should be taken, transmitted or distributed (directly or indirectly) into the United States.

This document may contain independent market commentary prepared by ETFS UK based on publicly available information. ETFS UK does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or correctness of any information contained herein and any opinions related to product or market activity may change. Any third party data providers used to source the information in this communication make no warranties or representation of any kind relating to such data.

Any historical performance included in this document may be based on back testing. Back tested performance is purely hypothetical and is provided in this document solely for informational purposes. Back tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance.

Historical performance is not an indication of or a guide to future performance.

The information contained in this communication 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.

ETFS UK is required by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (”FCA”) to clarify that it is not acting for you in any way in relation to the investment or investment activity to which this communication relates. In particular, ETFS UK will not provide any investment services to you and or advise you on the merits of, or make any recommendation to you in relation to, the terms of any transaction. No representative of ETFS UK is authorised to behave in any way which would lead you to believe otherwise. ETFS UK is not, therefore, responsible for providing you with the protections afforded to its clients and you should seek your own independent legal, investment and tax or other advice as you see fit.

 

Risk Warnings

Any products referenced in this document are generally aimed at sophisticated, professional and institutional investors. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the prospectus (and any supplements thereto) of the relevant product issue. The price of any securities may go up or down and an investor may not get back the amount invested. Securities may valued in currencies other than those in which there are priced and will be affected by exchange rate movements. Investments in the securities which provide a short and/or leveraged exposure are only suitable for sophisticated, professional and institutional investors who understand leveraged and compounded daily returns and are willing to magnify potential losses by comparison to investments which do not incorporate these strategies. Over periods of greater than one day, investments with a short and/or leveraged exposure do not necessarily provide investors with a return equivalent to a return from the unleveraged long or unleveraged short investments multiplied by the relevant leverage factor. Investors should refer to the section entitled ”Risk Factors” in the relevant prospectus for further details of these and other risks associated with an investment in any securities referenced in this communication.

If you have any questions please contact ETFS UK at +44 20 7448 4330 or info@etfsecurities.com for more information.