What Investment articles from January 2006

What Investment archives from January 2006

Bread and isotopes.(Comment--the bigger picture)
January 1, 2006... One of the problems of writing an editorial for the January issue of any magazine is the fact you have to write it in early-December. Predicting anything makes you a hostage to fortune, because the intervening four weeks between writing and...

Poor portfolio allocation costs [pounds sterling][pounds sterling][pounds sterling]s.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... The average fund manager loses more than 60 basis points of performance--or 60 million [pounds sterling] for every 10 billion [pounds sterling] management--each year through inefficient portfolio allocation, according to behavioural finance...

What's in a name?(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... Norwich Union has changed the name of seven investment funds. The funds were previously marketed under the Morley Fund Management brand but will now be badged 'Norwich Union' (NU). However, the funds will continue to be managed by Morley. ...

The needle and the damage done.(January news)
January 1, 2006... The full extent of the damage done by Chancellor Gordon Brown's removal of the dividend tax credit on pensions in 1998 has been analysed by Killik & Co, the private client stockbroker. This raid on the nation's pension funds not only took 5...

A rose by any other name.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... In order to meet the growing demand for income-producing investments, Jupiter is relaunching the Jupiter Environmental Opportunities Fund. The 27 million [pounds sterling] fund, managed by Peter Hulse and launched in November 1999, will...

Canadian club.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... Canada Life has added five of F&C Asset Management's funds to its investment range. In addition to its own 17 funds, Canada Life offers access to a number of externally managed funds. These five new funds bring the total number of funds...

Recent moves.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... Recent These are the latest fund manager moves from August 2004. To keep track of your fund manager, and for further commentary on manager moves, visit www.bestinvest.co.uk Date left Fund manager Moved from... Nov...

Top ten funds.(January news)
January 1, 2006... Top ten funds UNIT TRUSTS One Year 1 Baring Latin America USD 177.06 2 JI Latin America Equity 176.32 3 Schroder ISF Latin Am A Acc 174.73 4 MLIIF Latin Am Fund A2 USD ...

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 opportunity.(January news)
January 1, 2006... * M&G The M&G Property Portfolio fund will be managed by M&G, drawing on the resources and expertise of Prudential Property Investment Managers Limited (PruPIM), which manages nearly 15 billion [pounds sterling] and a history that spans...

Damning with faint praise: Keiron Root argues that the current Chancellor of the Exchequer should heed the lessons of some of his predecessors.(Lessons from history)
January 1, 2006... Being blessed with a reasonably good memory, a broad range of interests, an innate curiosity and a tendency to acquire reference books that borders on an addiction, I find myself regularly being invited to join quiz teams. Having read history...

Does size matter? News of the splitting of the Fidelity Special Situations fund gives rise to the question: when it comes to investment funds, is big really better? We look at how the size of a fund affects performance. Will a fund that grows too large simply 'plateau', regardless of the skill of the manager? Is there a direct correlation between large funds and lacklustre performance? Simon Hildrey sizes it up.(Fund size)
January 1, 2006... There's a limit to how much money even the best fund managers can run. Fidelity International's Anthony Bolton has become the latest in an increasingly long line of managers to seek to limit the amount of assets they manage. In the first...

Sort out your portfolio in 2006: a new year, a new resolve to sort out your investment portfolio. Jo Tura offers ten tips that can help you tidy up your investments.(2006 Portfolio)
January 1, 2006... Even the most diligent long-term investors can have loose ends in their portfolio, everything from a sheaf of unfiled paperwork to underperforming shares and funds. In this article, we'll look at how to review your holdings, running winners,...

Good call: trying to select the best funds on the market is a pretty tall order, so why not just leave it to a multi-manager.(Multi-manager funds of funds)
January 1, 2006... With nearly 2,000 funds to choose from, picking out a handful of likely winners is rather a daunting challenge. Because of this, an increasing number of investors believe that their best hope lies with a multi-manager. These offer the...

Silver surfer.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... I have entered my equities within my portfolio, which also includes two Irish stocks valued in euros, into the portfolio management tool on the What Investment website (www.whatinvestment. co.uk). These valuations come up as extremely and...

The son also rises.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... I was wondering if you could give me some advice or point me in the right direction concerning a regular investment of 40 [pounds sterling] a month for a four-year-old over a 14-year period. Originally, I wanted a CTF but my son was born before...

Premier league.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... Sir, could you please tell me why the top funds (new offers, global equities, bonds, commodities etc) rarely feature in the league tables. A typical example is the Manulife Global Emerging East Euro A. If these funds are top performers I would...

Trusting grandparent.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2006... I'm anxious to find a way of investing for my grandchildren, but in their father's name as bare trustee. I have been able to buy Premium Bonds for the grandchildren in this way without difficulty, but should now like to branch out into...

Online financial advice: despite numerous attempts, fully fledged advice online hasn't taken off. However, a number of sites offer more limited advice, for example, helping you to select funds for your investment portfolio according to factors such as attitude to risk, age, investment aims, existing holdings, and so on ... Harvey Jones looks at what's out there.(Technology)
January 1, 2006... Web-based independent financial advice has long been the Holy Grail of online personal finance. Many have tried, none have completely succeeded. But the idea is still out there, all shiny, beguiling and elusive. Back in 1999, web...

How to inflation-proof your portfolio: current worries about the oil price stoking up inflation could mean a higher inflation rate than we have become used to over the past decade--and a need for your saving and investments to keep pace with it. Stephen Spurdon looks at how investors can "inflation-proof" their portfolios.(Inflation-proof investments)
January 1, 2006... The cruel financial tango dance during the 1970s and 1980s, where rising prices continued to be fuelled by ever-increasing wage demands appears, in recent times, to have been replaced by a gentle waltz. The double-digit inflation that was so...

Global equities: looking overseas for growth: 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 stock-selection decisions.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
January 1, 2006... The Chancellor's pre-Budget statement featured a number of examples of that delicate political manoeuvre known as the 'U-turn', not least in terms of his forecasts for UK economic growth. Ian Kernohan, chief economist at Royal London Asset...

Bonds: credit risk rising again.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
January 1, 2006... Bond markets are looking distinctly jittery as interest rates start sneaking up again in most parts of the world. For example, Baring Asset Management is of the opinion that the main threat to global growth in 2006 stems from bond markets, in...

Commodities: looking for alternatives.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
January 1, 2006... Although commodity prices have generally fallen back over the past few months following a sustained rise, this is seen by many fund managers as a temporary correction. Ted Scott, manager of F&C UK Growth & Income Fund, is continuing to increase...

Property: confidence unshaken by U-turns.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
January 1, 2006... The Chancellor's U-turn on what could be put into Self-Invested Personal Pensions, announced in his pre-Budget statement at the beginning of December, particularly the prohibition on direct holdings of residential property, caused an...

Market insider South Korea: continuing our series providing a fundamental analysis of a region from an economic and political perspective. This month, Michael Wilson considers the outlook for South Korea.(WORLD MARKETS)
January 1, 2006... Every so often we reckon we can afford to give ourselves a modest pat on the back, and this is one of those occasions. Just four months ago, we tipped South Korea as the most promising investment market in the South East Asian region. It had...

Market view: Tom Winnifrith considers the outlook for UK shares.(UK SHARES)
January 1, 2006... November was another great month for the bulls. Oil prices softened (bad news for the FTSE 100, which is heavily oil stock weighted, but good news for everyone else); the Federal Reserve hinted that the cycle of US rate rises may be put on...

Sector view: banking.(UK SHARES)
January 1, 2006... Like everyone else, I loathe my bank. I resent the shoddy level of service although I am deemed a premium customer. I loathe the interest I pay on my overdraft. And I loathe all the other charges that seem to creep into my monthly statement....

Share view: RBS & Lloyds TSB.(UK SHARES)
January 1, 2006... RBS has been the most aggressive of the acquiring banks. NatWest was its biggest catch, but it has also hoovered up a raft of US banks on the East Coast, giving it very strong regional as well as strong sectoral franchises--it dominates the UK...

European sector review: Hilary Cook, director of investment strategy at Barclays private clients, looks at several companies in the speciality and other financials sector.(STOCK MARKET REVIEW)(Company Profile)
January 1, 2006... Following prolonged period in the doldrums, many financial service companies have taken advantage of the low market volatility seen over the last two years to build up stable foundations for increased longer-term performance, a policy that is...

Some taxing fax.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... British households will pay an average of 603,697 [pounds sterling] each in tax during their lifetimes, with higher-earning households easily paying 1 million [pounds sterling] in lifetime tax, according to a new analysis from AXA's new Wealth...

Friends reunited.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... A loophole in the law means heterosexual friends could cash in on the Civil Partnership Act, say experts. The Civil Partnership Act, which came into force on 5 December, means civil partners will be given next-of-kin rights and equal treatment...

Sick note.(Personal Finance news)
January 1, 2006... Four in ten Brits believe that those who don't look after their health should be penalised. And of these, as many as a third want penalty charges imposed on medical treatment for people who smoke, drink and are obese, with almost one in ten...

Kids cost cash.(News-Round up)
January 1, 2006... Parents typically spend 165,668 [pounds sterling] on raising a child from birth to the age of 21. That's 7,889 [pounds sterling] a year, 657 [pounds sterling] a month and 22 [pounds sterling] a day, according to Liverpool Victoria's annual...

Not to everyone's credit.(News Round-up)
January 1, 2006... Credit card providers have dramatically increased so-called 'default charges' by as much as 40 per cent in the past three years, according to research by Defaqto, the leading financial research company. Customers who make mistakes on their...

Cold and frosty mornings.(Personal Finance news)
January 1, 2006... Carelessness with keys is contributing to the theft of one car every 60 seconds in the UK every year, according to new research by AA Insurance. As temperatures drop, a fifth of respondents (20 per cent) admit to leaving keys in the car...

Debts after death: some people die intestate and leave a mess behind for their relatives to clear up. Others die not only intestate, but in debt. Richard Baker looks at what happens next.(Intestacy)
January 1, 2006... It was Benjamin Franklin who, in a letter to his good friend Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, said: "The only certain things in life are death and taxes." Sadly, that's just as true today as when old Ben was busy helping to foment the American Revolution...

The money doctor.(Money doctor)
January 1, 2006... When it comes to our savings it would appear that we are a nation of risk-takers. Not intentionally, I hasten to add. But give us four baskets labelled 'cash', 'property', 'bonds' and 'equities' and an unlimited supply of eggs, and I'd bet...

Best buys performance tables.
January 1, 2006... Best buys performance tables Figures correct as at 01.12.05 Source: moneyfacts Unsecured Personal Loan Selection Monthly payment Lender Contact ...

Unit trust best buys: What Investment asks three independent financial advisers to recommend their favourite unit trusts for a cautious, a balanced and an aggressive investment.(UNIT TRUSTS: MONITOR)
January 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Tim Cockerill, head of research at Rowan & Co Capital Management, points more cautious investors towards Cazenove UK Growth & Income. This trust is ranked 42 out of 272 funds in the UK All Companies sector over one year to...

Unit trust performance tables.(UNIT TRUSTS OEICs)
January 1, 2006... What the tables show The figures show the value of 100 [pounds sterling] over six months, one, three, five and ten years to 30 November 2005, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested. Funds are listed by sector so that you can...

Positive engagement: Keiron Root meets a fund manager whose funds control risk by concentrating on ethically sound companies.(FUND MANAGER: PROFILE)
January 1, 2006... Alex Illingworth, who runs several socially responsible investment (SRI) funds, arrived at Insight Investment as part of its acquisition of Rothschild Asset Management at the beginning of 2003. "I ran several global thematic funds at RAM," says...

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)
January 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Paul Craig, fund manager at New Star Asset Management suggests one of the newer generalists for investors who want to be bale to sleep at night. Launched in June 2004, the shares of Ruffer Investment Company are ranked 5...

Investment trust performance tables.(INVESTMENT TRUSTS)
January 1, 2006... What the tables show The figures show the value of 100 [pounds sterling] over six months, one, three, five and ten years to 30 November 2005, on a midmarket basis with net incm reinvested. Funds are listed by sector so that you can compare...

Personal pension annuity rates.(REFERENCE)
January 1, 2006... An annuity is a financial product that converts capital into income. You can buy one with any lump sum of money or you can buy one with accrued pension funds. Currently, for money purchase pension funds, you must buy an annuity by the time you...

Best ways to save.(REFERENCE)
January 1, 2006... Best ways to save Telephone Account Number INSTANT-ACCESS BRANCH ACCOUNTS Lambeth BS 0500 200020 Premier Save Stroud & Swindon BS 08457...

Top-performing unit-linked pensions.(REFERENCE)
January 1, 2006... Top-performing unit-linked pensions Five years to 30 November 2005. Results of 100 [pounds sterling] invested on an offer-to-bid basis with gross income reinvested. Name Value Rank ...