What Investment articles from April 2007

What Investment archives from April 2007

The consequences of volatility.(Comment--the bigger picture)
April 1, 2007... Just as I was settling down to pen this month's editorial, one of the regular investment commentaries issued by Baring Asset Management passed across my desk, headlined 'Investors Should Prepare For More Volatility'. In view of the market...

Property strikes a balance.(April news)
April 1, 2007... Balancing your portfolio with commercial property will boost returns and reduce volatility, according to research from Invista Real Estate Investment Management. The fund management group found that in an equally weighted portfolio of...

Double GEB launch for savers.(News Round-up)
April 1, 2007... National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has launched a guaranteed equity bond (GEB) that aims to return 120 per cent of any growth in the FTSE 100 over five years. This means that if the FTSE 100 rose by 20 per cent over the five-year term...

Return of a star.(News Round-up)
April 1, 2007... Bill Mott, formerly of Credit Suisse Asset Management, has launched the PSigma Income Fund, the first new issue from newly formed PSigma Asset Management. Mott announced his departure from Credit Suisse in January and is now part-owner of...

IPO site expands offering.(News Round-up)
April 1, 2007... The All IPO website has expanded its offering to include secondary placings. The site (www.allipo.com) already offers retail investors opportunities in a range of areas including initial public offerings (IPOs), venture capital trusts (VCTs)...

Investors head online.(News Round-up)
April 1, 2007... The internet is becoming the route of choice for ISA investments: new research shows that more than 60 per cent of ISA investors have bought online, while 44 per cent regularly invest and review online. Barclays Stockbrokers released the...

M&G adds more funds to Skandia.(April news)
April 1, 2007... M&G has made three more funds available via Skandia's fund supermarket, taking its total to 18. Two equity funds (M&G American and M&G Global Leaders) and a newly launched fixed-income fund, the M&G Optimal Income Fund, are now available...

Caution rules Frankfurt fund managers.(News Round-up)
April 1, 2007... UK-based managers are currently more optimistic about the markets than their Frankfurt-based counterparts, according to Standard & Poor's. The investment research specialist found that shortly before the recent sell-off, managers based in...

Recent moves.(April news)
April 1, 2007... Recent moves These are the latest fund manager moves announced to the beginning of March 2007. To keep track of your fund manager, and for further commentary on manager moves, visit www.bestinvest.co.uk Date left/due to leave Fund...

Top ten funds.(April news)
April 1, 2007... Top ten funds UNIT TRUSTS One Year 1 Baring Hong Kong China USD 163.67 2 Atlantis China Fortune 156.60 3 CA Funds Greater China C Cap (USD) 152.80 4 Allianz RCM...

New offers: we examine what the latest savings and investment plans have to offer investors. Each product has been given a star rating, representing its overall value for money based on cost, terms and conditions, and investment potential.(April news)
April 1, 2007... Royal London Asset Management Ethical Bond Trust This new authorised unit trust from Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) has already received 35 million [pounds sterling] of initial investment from those interested in investing from an...

The M&G cautious multi asset fund.(Product of the month)
April 1, 2007... What INVESTMENT Product of the month April 2007 **** This fund aims to deliver steady, positive returns across different market conditions by finding the best asset classes and investment themes. It will take a three-pronged...

Looking for Goldilocks: Keiron Root weighs up the evidence on whether the bears are about to return.(Lessons from history)
April 1, 2007... A few years ago, during the technology-inspired bull market that ushered in the new century, economic forecasters popularised the concept of the 'Goldilocks economy'--'not too hot, not too cold, but just right'. However, as every child knows,...

The rules of the game: equities have had a volatile start to 2007, but how has the market changed over the past century and what's the outlook going forward?(Global market performance)
April 1, 2007... The ABN AMRO Global Investment Returns Yearbook (GIRY) is published annually in partnership with the London Business School, and examines the total returns since 1900 for stocks, bonds, cash and foreign exchange in 17 major markets covering...

Doing it the REIT way: Stephanie Spicer discovers the new way for private investors to get exposure to global property.(Real Estate Investment Trusts)
April 1, 2007... Since January this year investors have had a new investment option for their savings, in the form of real estate investment trusts (REITs). They offer investors a vehicle to invest in residential and commercial property and make significant...

Growing your estate: Keiron Root shows how investors can cut the inheritance tax burden on their estates by investing in portfolios of AIM-listed stocks.(IHT AIM portfolios)
April 1, 2007... It may seem a contradiction in terms, but an increasingly popular way for investors to shelter at least part of their estates from inheritance tax (IHT) is to invest in portfolios of shares in companies listed on the Alternative Investment...

Taking control of your pension: Harvey Jones assesses the attractions of the self-invested personal pension--for the right investor.(Self Invested Personal Pensions)
April 1, 2007... Self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) take a further step towards mass-market acceptability on 6 April, when they finally become regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA will take responsibility for the regulation of all...

In association with the share centre: rethinking the rules: Keiron Root meets an academic who argues that the rules governing the disclosure of shareholdings need urgent revision, to take account of new forms of trading.(Investment clubs)
April 1, 2007... To most private investors, contracts for difference (CFDs) are a quick and efficient means of trading within their portfolios, enabling them to deal more frequently and at lower cost than is the case with traditional share dealing. These...

Hasgrove's European ambitions bear fruit: every month What Investment focuses on a potential growth stock highlighted by our sister publication Growth Company Investor.(Growth stocks)
April 1, 2007... Hasgrove is a highly acquisitive pan-European communications group with a keen ambition. Based in Brussels and Manchester, the company floated on AIM following a 5.4 million [pounds sterling] placing at 120p in November last year. The...

Market view: Robert Tyerman finds the dealmakers unperturbed by global market unease.(UK SHARES)
April 1, 2007... It began as a shockwave from Shanghai and developed into a general sense of unease about everything horn an unpredictable yen and a faltering US economy to bad debts on sub-prime property lending and the outlook for domestic interest rates....

Sector view: Lloyd's Insurers.(UK SHARES)
April 1, 2007... Insurance is a notoriously cyclical business, as a relentless premium rate cycle combines with disasters, currency fluctuations and interest rate changes to make life difficult. But when things go well insurers can make big profits, and some...

Share view: CBG & Vycon.(UK SHARES)
April 1, 2007... Elsewhere in the sector, Manchester-based insurance broker and finance specialist CBG Group is pondering more takeovers after an 81 per cent profits gain. AIM-quoted CBG made 919,000 [pounds sterling] pretax in 2006 on turnover up 75 per cent...

European sector review: Henk Potts explains 'selective extravagance'--and other reasons why luxury brands are benefiting from a wider clientele.(UK SHARES)
April 1, 2007... Brands have been big business in recent years--Armani, Gucci and Louis Vuitton are now visible on every high street, not just in the pages of Vogue. Stock analysts, in their own way, have been equally label-conscious. They too cannot...

Market insider: friends in high places: Michael Wilson suggests that Mexico's relationship with the US will give it an advantage over many of its emerging market peers in the months ahead.(WORLD MARKETS)
April 1, 2007... You might be forgiven for wondering why we have chosen this month, of all months, to point you in the direction of a Latin American stock market. Why would we want to talk about a country that's right in the middle of the emerging market storm...

Global equities: the year of the Fire Pig: each month, What Investment speaks to fund managers and analysts, focusing on four different asset classes, and asks them to reveal the key issues currently driving their investment decisions.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
April 1, 2007... The Chinese New Year ushered in a fall in the Chinese market that sent jitters around the world. Lex Hoogduin, chief economist at Robeco, notes: 'At the end of February the Chinese authorities triggered a stock market correction of nine per...

Bonds: coming down to earth.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
April 1, 2007... Mark Despres, manager of the Collins Stewart Total Return Bond Fund, argues that the long bull run in bond markets is now over and that 'managers can no longer afford to continue to erode capital to provide a desired level of income,...

Commodities: biofuel boom.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
April 1, 2007... Baring Asset Management is predicting that investors will wake up to the attractions of soft commodities over the next few months, as the commodity cycle turns and the demand for biofuels continues to grow. Nudgem Richyal, manager of the Baring...

Property: moving to the slow lane.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
April 1, 2007... In the residential market, the latest RICS survey of the housing market reveals a marked slowdown in prices. Although house prices rose for the sixteenth consecutive month in February, the pace of increase slowed to the lowest since last May....

Scam alert?(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2007... While in Scotland recently I was given a leaflet promoting the Private Placement Programs (PPP). The address is given as Global-Visions Finance Scotland. The leaflet uses phrases such as 'nothing to lose by trying it', 'wealth creation', 'risk...

Japanese volatility.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2007... Your performance figures show that, in the past year, the Japan Equity Fund run by Legg Mason Investments has fallen from its usual position at number one or two to the bottom of the heap. The fall was sudden. I wrote to the company last March...

Deed of variation.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2007... If husband and wife hold a property in joint tenancy, can the survivor enter into a deed of arrangement giving part of the property to their children? Or does this only apply to a tenancy in common passing by will rather than survivorship? ...

Valuation process.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2007... Please can you tell me how you value Home Retail Group and Experian since the split from GUS with regard to capital gains tax (CGT)? I bought GUS at 9.703 [pounds sterling]. Therefore, what would the base value of the above two new shares be...

Disappearing act.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2007... Why do some funds disappear from the What Investment performance tables? The most recent is the Henderson Far East Income Fund in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan list. Alan Bunker, sent via email Keiron Root replies: The simple answer...

The money doctor: Andrew Merricks suggests that investors in ethical funds may well be ahead of the curve.(Money doctor)
April 1, 2007... One of my lifetime ambitions is to be asked onto one of those 'grumpy old men' programmes on TV. I think it is one's right to grunt and tut with more feeling as one advances in years, and I took it as a badge of honour when I was once told that...

Unit trust best buys: What Investment asks three independent financial advisers to recommend their favourite unit trusts or OEICs for a cautious, a balanced, and an aggressive investment.(UNIT TRUSTS: MONITOR)
April 1, 2007... CAUTIOUS OPTION Dan Kemp, head of fund research at Williams de Broe, focuses on a broadly based bond fund for risk-averse investors. Newton International Bond is ranked 21st out of 35 funds in the Global Bonds sector over one year to 28...

Unit trust performance tables.(UNIT TRUSTS OEICs)
April 1, 2007... Unit trust performance tables What the tables show The figures show the value of 100 [pounds sterling] over six months, one, three, five and ten years to 28 February 2007, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested. Funds...

Investment trust best buys: What Investment asks three investment trust specialists to recommend their favourite investment trust shares, for a cautious, a balanced and an aggressive investment.(INVESTMENT TRUSTS: MONITOR)
April 1, 2007... CAUTIOUS OPTION Charles Cade, head of investment trust research at WINS Research, points cautious investors in the direction of a well-run generalist trust. The shares of Bankers Investment Trust are ranked 20th out of 29 trusts in the...

Investment trust performance tables.(INVESTMENT TRUSTS)
April 1, 2007... Investment trust performance tables What the tables show The figures show the value of 100 [pounds sterling] over six months, one, three, five and 10 years to 28 February 2007, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested....

The UK Trader's Bible: The Complete Guide to Trading the UK Stock Market.
April 1, 2007... * The UK Trader's Bible: The Complete Guide to Trading the UK Stock Market by Dominic Connolly This is the only comprehensive UK-published guide to short-term trading, and combines detailed reference information with the author's advice on...

From Wall Street to the Great Wall: How to Invest in China.
April 1, 2007... * From Wall Street to the Great Wall: How to Invest in China by Jonathan Worrall and Peter O'Shea Export markets are flooded with high-quality, brand-name consumer goods produced in China. In addition to fuelling China's dynamic growth...

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: A Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing.
April 1, 2007... A Random Walk Down Wall Street: A Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel Here is the best-selling, authoritative and gimmick-free guide to investing, totally updated and including a new chapter that draws on...

How to Get Rich with Options: Four Winning Strategies.
April 1, 2007... * How to Get Rich with Options: Four Winning Strategies by Lee Lowell In order to survive and thrive in today's financial markets, you must seriously consider the use of options, which allow you to reap the same benefits as an outright...

Best buys performance tables.
April 1, 2007... Best buys performance tables Figures correct as at 01.03.07 Unsecured Personal Loan Selection Monthly payment Lender Contact APR 1,000...

Setting the ground rules: Andre Rostant of the FSA explains how the new approach to the regulation of home reversion plans may impact on private investors.(Home reversion regulation)
April 1, 2007... UK consumers are increasingly being encouraged not just to buy the homes they live in, but to 'invest in property'. Advertising and television and radio shows urge people every day to buy more and more houses, fix them up and then sell them on...

Best ways to save.(REFERENCE)
April 1, 2007... Best ways to save Contact Account details INSTANT ACCESS BRANCH ACCOUNTS Manchester BS 0161 833 8880 Premier Bonus Post Office ...

Personal pension annuity rates.(REFERENCE)
April 1, 2007... An annuity is a financial product that converts capital into income. You can buy one with any lump sum of money, or with accrued pension funds. Currently, for money purchase pension funds you must buy an annuity by the time you reach the age of...

Financial contacts: ISA directory.(Directory)
April 1, 2007... FINANCIAL CONTACTS ISA DIRECTORY Abbey Investments ISA Stocks & Both Safety Plus Shares Both Tel: 0845 7654321 Growth Option * Cash...

A well-kept secret: Keiron Root explains why more investors should consider using investment trusts.(The Essential Guide to Investments Trusts--Introduction)
April 1, 2007... The investment trust sector will be 140 years old next year. The first investment trust was set up in 1868, with the express purpose of giving small investors the same access to stock markets enjoyed by the extremely wealthy and the...

What's in a name? Keiron Root investigates the rise of the investment company.(Investment trusts & investment companies)
April 1, 2007... Although this section of the magazine is billed as The Essential Guide to Investment Trusts, such a title is not strictly accurate. For over the past 12 months, the investment trust sector has broadened its horizons and now encompasses a much...

Funds for all seasons: Keiron Root discovers that generalist investment trusts still have a role to play as core holdings in a private investor's portfolio.(Generalist trusts)
April 1, 2007... The generalist investment trust is seen by many investors as a somewhat anachronistic relic of a former age. Many of the largest trusts in the sector are generalists--several of them, including the original investment trust, Foreign & Colonial,...

Special considerations: want to invest in Russian oil stocks or traded endowment policies? Pauline McCallion looks at specialist investment trusts to see what's available and how they work.(Specialist trusts)
April 1, 2007... A specialist investment trust is one that focuses on a specific area, be that a geographic region or country, or a certain industry, such as mining, financials or biotechnology. The AIC has separated these specialist investment trusts into 12...

High achievers: investment trusts offer a wide variety of ways to generate income. Jo Tura looks at the details.(ITs for income)
April 1, 2007... Income is a perennially popular theme among investors, with companies increasingly issuing strong and rising dividend payments, resulting in income accounting for a not insubstantial part of their total return over time. Open-ended...