Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The BHP Board has decided to proceed with the Unification due to the advantages of simplification, strategic flexibility, elimination of DLC dividend arrangement, and elimination of share price differentials. </li>
<li>Since announcement of the Unification, the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bhp-billiton-plc-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14531:1" rel="noopener">BHP Billiton Plc (ADR) (BBL US)</a> discount to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bhp-billiton-ltd-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5424:1" rel="noopener">BHP Billiton (ADR) (BHP US)</a> has narrowed from 16.6% to 1.4% and will reach parity soon.</li>
<li>There will be selling on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bhp-billiton-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21840:1" rel="noopener">BHP Billiton (BLT LN)</a> from UK Index and STOXX trackers in January, and S&amp;P/ASX trackers will buy <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bhp-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:147:1" rel="noopener">BHP Group (BHP AU)</a>, possibly in 2 tranches. </li>
</ul>


The BHP Board has decided to proceed with the Unification due to the advantages of simplification, strategic flexibility, elimination of DLC dividend arrangement, and elimination of share price differentials. 
Since announcement of the Unification, the BHP Billiton Plc (ADR) (BBL US) discount to BHP Billiton (ADR) (BHP US) has narrowed from 16.6% to 1.4% and will reach parity soon.
There will be selling on BHP Billiton (BLT LN) from UK Index and STOXX trackers in January, and S&amp;P/ASX trackers will buy BHP Group (BHP AU), possibly in 2 tranches. 


BHP Unification: Board Approves; S&P Market Consultation in Progress

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Adr) / Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/royal-dutch-shell-plc-48d2d58c-023d-485f-887d-f13ca5f049f6" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:25197:1" rel="noopener">Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA NA)</a>/ <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/royal-dutch-shell-plc-48d2d58c-023d-485f-887d-f13ca5f049f6" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:25197:1" rel="noopener">Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA NA)</a> has announced a simplification of its share structure resulting in an increase in the speed and flexibility of capital actions.</li>
<li>The name of the company will change from Royal Dutch Shell plc to Shell plc.  It's expected that the company will no longer meet conditions to use the 'Royal' designation.</li>
<li>The proposed structure will help in conducting buybacks and there could be a quick shareholder payout following the US$7bn sale of Shell's Permian assets in the US.</li>
</ul>



Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA NA)/ Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA NA) has announced a simplification of its share structure resulting in an increase in the speed and flexibility of capital actions.
The name of the company will change from Royal Dutch Shell plc to Shell plc.  It's expected that the company will no longer meet conditions to use the 'Royal' designation.
The proposed structure will help in conducting buybacks and there could be a quick shareholder payout following the US$7bn sale of Shell's Permian assets in the US.


Shell Plc - No Longer Royal Post Simplification

On 11 June, Unilever announced that it was looking to unify its group legal structure under a single parent company, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/unilever-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22197:1" rel="noopener">Unilever PLC (ULVR LN)</a>, "creating a simpler company with greater strategic flexibility, that is better positioned for future success".The Dutch shareholders approved the unification on 21 September with 99.39% of the shares voted in favour, while the UK shareholders approved the proposal on 12 October with over 99% of the shares voted in favour.There is still one potential hurdle to the unification in the Departure Tax (GroenLinks initiative bill) being proposed by the GreenLeft Party in the Netherlands that could cost Unilever up to €11bn if it left the Netherlands.If the unification does go through, there will be an impact of passive fund activity on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/unilever-nv" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21141:1" rel="noopener">Unilever NV (UNA NA)</a>, but the bigger impact will be on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/unilever-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22197:1" rel="noopener">Unilever PLC (ULVR LN)</a>. We estimate the net impact of the unification will see around US$3bn of passive money flow into the stock.In this Insight, we take a look at some of the details around the unification before jumping into the impact on the stocks and the possible spread between the two lines prior to unification.

On 11 June, Unilever announced that it was looking to unify its group legal structure under a single parent company, Unilever PLC (ULVR LN), "creating a simpler company with greater strategic flexibility, that is better positioned for future success".The Dutch shareholders approved the unification on 21 September with 99.39% of the shares voted in favour, while the UK shareholders approved the proposal on 12 October with over 99% of the shares voted in favour.There is still one potential hurdle to the unification in the Departure Tax (GroenLinks initiative bill) being proposed by the GreenLeft Party in the Netherlands that could cost Unilever up to €11bn if it left the Netherlands.If the unification does go through, there will be an impact of passive fund activity on Unilever NV (UNA NA), but the bigger impact will be on Unilever PLC (ULVR LN). We estimate the net impact of the unification will see around US$3bn of passive money flow into the stock.In this Insight, we take a look at some of the details around the unification before jumping into the impact on the stocks and the possible spread between the two lines prior to unification.

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Adding to last week’s concerns reiterated above, additional developments which have further dampened our overall outlook include a breakdown in the global Discretionary vs. Staples ratio, price and RS deterioration for mainland China, Germany, and European Technology, and new lows in the NASDAQ Global Automobile index. Aside from Germany, other major indexes remain above support in Europe/UK and Japan.  We highlight a number of attractive opportunities in “defensive” Financials including electronic exchanges/markets, insurance, commercial/consumer financing, and select asset managers.

Adding to last week’s concerns reiterated above, additional developments which have further dampened our overall outlook include a breakdown in the global Discretionary vs. Staples ratio, price and RS deterioration for mainland China, Germany, and European Technology, and new lows in the NASDAQ Global Automobile index. Aside from Germany, other major indexes remain above support in Europe/UK and Japan.  We highlight a number of attractive opportunities in “defensive” Financials including electronic exchanges/markets, insurance, commercial/consumer financing, and select asset managers.

Global Equity Strategy: More Cracks Begin to Show

Despite negative recent developments, we have remained steadfast in our belief that weakness in May has presented an attractive time to add exposure. In our June International Strategy, we highlight various themes which lead to this belief, along with areas of the market where we see actionable opportunities within our favorite Groups, spanning the Consumer Staples, Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Services, Health Care, and Financial Sectors.

Despite negative recent developments, we have remained steadfast in our belief that weakness in May has presented an attractive time to add exposure. In our June International Strategy, we highlight various themes which lead to this belief, along with areas of the market where we see actionable opportunities within our favorite Groups, spanning the Consumer Staples, Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Services, Health Care, and Financial Sectors.

Global Ex-U.S. Equity Strategy: Cautiously Optimistic Outlook Intact

United Kingdom

The FTSE 100 Index is a capitalization-weighted index of the 100 most highly capitalized companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. The equities use an investibility weighting in the index calculation. The index was developed with a base level of 1000 as of December 30, 1983. 

UKX Index (UKX INDEX)

BHP Unification: Board Approves; S&P Market Consultation in Progress

The BHP Board has approved the Unification and the UK line could stop trading on 28 January. The UK line will see selling from UK Index and STOXX...

Brian Freitas

Shell Plc - No Longer Royal Post Simplification

Royal Dutch Shell is simplifying its share structure by merging its Class A and Class B shares and changing its name to Shell plc. The...

Brian Freitas

Unilever Unification - Index Impact

With the Unilever unification of the PLC and NV lines approved by the Dutch and British shareholders, we take a look at the spread between the two...

Brian Freitas

Global Equity Strategy: More Cracks Begin to Show

Adding to last week’s concerns reiterated above, additional developments which have further dampened our overall outlook include a breakdown in the...

Vermilion Research

Global Ex-U.S. Equity Strategy: Cautiously Optimistic Outlook Intact

Despite negative recent developments, we have remained steadfast in our belief that weakness in May has presented an attractive time to add...

Vermilion Research