What Investment articles from June 2006

What Investment archives from June 2006

Boardroom shenanigans.(Comment--the bigger picture)
June 1, 2006... In a cult of youth, age can sometimes be damned as an affliction--a disease almost. But age brings something callow youth can never achieve: wisdom and experience. One of the benefits of being a financial journalist who's been around the block...

A rose by any other name?(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... Britannic Asset Management has changed its name to Resolution Asset Management. Resolution Asset Management's parent company, Resolution Group plc, was formed by the merger between Britannic Group plc and Resolution Life Ltd in September 2005....

Free investment seminars.(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... Traders University is offering a series of free preview seminars for its Immersion (two-day) training course during June. Set up by professional trader Greg Secker, Traders University covers getting started in the stock market to becoming an...

IFA waives fee.(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... The first discount broker to offer rebates of annual trail commission to its clients back in 1999 has waived its 20 [pounds sterling] processing fee until 29 September 2006. Chartwell Direct, the discount broking arm of IFA Chartwell, will not...

The economics of Jules Rimet.(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... As the start of the 2006 World Cup approaches, how the stock markets of this year's qualifying countries have fared since the last tournament in 2002 has been analysed by Fidelity International. While the current holders Brazil may be one...

Brits sell shares.(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... During February and March 2006, private investors pulled 3.1 billion [pounds sterling] out of the UK stock market by selling their shareholdings, according to new research from Capita Registrars. By analysing the trading activity in the...

Bully for Uncle Sam!(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... With the US market trading at 16 times forward earnings, and following recent signs that the run of interest rate rises could be nearing an end, Baring Asset Management believes US equities are valued at extremely attractive levels. Sam Rahman,...

Recent moves.(News Round-up)
June 1, 2006... Recent moves These are the latest fund manager moves announced to the beginning of March 2006. To keep track of your fund manager, and for further commentary on manager moves, visit www.bestinvest.co.uk Date left Fund manager ...

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.(June news)
June 1, 2006... * Investec Asset Management Investec has launched an onshore version of its Guernsey-domiciled Global Gold fund. The UCITS III fund, managed from South Africa by Daniel Sacks, seeks to take advantage of the changing demand and supply...

Top ten funds.(June news)
June 1, 2006... Top ten funds UNIT TRUSTS One Year 1 Merrill Lynch Gold & General 212.18 2 CF Ruffer Baker Steel Gold Acc 211.97 3 Neptune Russia and Gr Russia A Acc 206.78 4 MLIIF World Gold Fund A2 USD 202.25 ...

Norwich Union.(Product of the month)
June 1, 2006... The 200 million [pounds sterling] Norwich UK Special Situations fund has been designed exclusively for Norwich Union and will be jointly managed by Richard Buxton, manager of Schroder UK Alpha Plus fund, and Andy Brough, manager of Schroder UK...

A question of timing: Keiron Root considers whether past market rallies can shed any light on how long the current bull run will last.(Lessons from history)
June 1, 2006... Well, it's official--we are in a bull market. And how do we know we're in a bull market? Because the UK stock market, and most other global bourses, have been showing positive returns for over three years and economists and market commentators...

Day theme believer: advocates of thematic investing sell the concept as global investing without handcuffs. Does picking stocks by theme give ideal global exposure for the unit trust investor? Does the concept truly add value, or is it just a fad?(Thematic investing)
June 1, 2006... Thematic investing entails finding a number of themes or trends going on in the world and investing in companies that should benefit from them. As the world becomes a smaller place, some investment managers argue that finding common strands to...

A bubble set to burst?(Private equity investment trusts)
June 1, 2006... The private equity investment trust sector has been delivering stellar long-term returns and, thanks to a string of realisations and recapitalisations, the sector has crept up the performance tables. However, is the strong performance of this...

One-hit wonders: are fund managers consistent enough to match high-charting performance even when they move to another fund? Nick Sudbury hears some sour notes.(Manager moves)
June 1, 2006... Success or failure at work is normally a pretty private affair, known only to the select few. For fund managers, however, performance is quite rightly a matter of public interest. The problem, as with football, is that a good spell may see a...

What Investment readers' awards.
June 1, 2006... It was Ken Livingstone who quipped that if voting changed anything, they'd abolish it. But whoever 'they' are, these people obviously carry no sway, as you'd think the first they'd have done would be to abolish Ken Livingstone. As a...

Global equities looking West and East: 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)
June 1, 2006... Errol Francis, UK equities portfolio manager at Credit Suisse, observes that the UK equity market has had a tremendous start to the year. "The FTSE 100 Index has hit 6,000, shrugging off months of poor UK retail sales and increases in energy...

Bonds: still bringing up the rear.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
June 1, 2006... The prolonged weakness of global bond markets is making balanced fund managers reconsider their weightings towards the asset class. Bambos Hambi, head of MultiManager at Gartmore, argues that, in this kind of environment, it pays to have a...

Commodities: inflated dreams?(ASSET ALLOCATION)
June 1, 2006... A growing number of market commentators are becoming concerned that we are experiencing a 'bubble' in commodity prices. Tony Dolphin, Director of Economics and Strategy at Henderson Global Investors, observes that: "Firstly, it's important to...

Property: commercial advantage.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
June 1, 2006... Despite a prolonged period of strong performance, the prospects for the commercial property market continue to look bright, according to F&C Property Asset Management's investment team. Jason Hollands, head of communications at F&C Asset...

Market insider: Taiwan--a tiger that still has teeth? Continuing our series providing a fundamental analysis of a region from an economic and political perspective. This month, Michael Wilson considers the outlook for Taiwan.(WORLD MARKETS)
June 1, 2006... Quite a few of us have had good cause to celebrate the Asian boom in the last couple of years. Anyone who put any money into a typical Asian investment trust three years ago has easily doubled his stake--and one or two national markets have...

Market view: Tom Winnifrith considers the outlook for UK shares.(UK SHARES)
June 1, 2006... Another month and the story is unchanged. The crude price surged 8 per cent in April, gold was up by 11 per cent and mining and oil stocks moved higher accordingly. Corporate trading news was again generally positive, although the sort of...

European sector review: Hilary Cook, director of investment strategy at Barclays Private Clients, highlights a consumer boost for European stocks at the end of April.(UK SHARES)
June 1, 2006... Just as the spotlight falls on Germany as the host nation of this summer's World Cup, there is evidence of a strong recovery in that country's economy. And that's likely to be reflected in increased consumer spending right across northern...

Sector view: breweries.(UK SHARES)
June 1, 2006... As I start making plans for a football weekend in Cardiff, naturally my mind turns to a subject close to the editor's heart--the brewing sector. [Actually, for the record, I don't actually drink beer- Ed.] This is a sector that has undergone...

Share view: Scottish & Newcastle.(UK SHARES)
June 1, 2006... In calendar 2006 I'd expect Scottish & Newcastle to generate earnings per share of 35p, which will fund a dividend of 22p. At 507p, the stock therefore yields 4.33 per cent. While that might not set the heart racing, the company will...

On the margins: in this month's column, Richard Miller, manager of Active Trading, Barclays Stockbrokers, explains what CFDs are and how you can profit from them.(Investment: On the margins)
June 1, 2006... CFD' stands for Contract for Difference and is a mechanism that allows investors to benefit from the movement in the price of a share without actually having to buy it. In fact, CFDs can be linked to a range of underlying assets, not just...

Avoiding IHT--the smart way: the introduction of the pre-owned assets tax on 6 April restricted the options for mitigating IHT on the family home. This has been done by imposing an annual tax on assets--including the family home--being given away but still enjoyed by the individual who is giving it away. Can anything be done to bend the rules?(Inheritance tax)
June 1, 2006... Inheritance tax (IHT) used to be a problem that only concerned the very wealthy. Rapid house price inflation, however, and a general growth in wealth is bringing thousands into the IHT net every year. Halifax, for example, estimates that...

The money doctor: much has been written recently about the retirement of Anthony Bolton from the Fidelity Special Situations fund and the effect his could have on future returns. It wasn't so long ago that the active fund manager was being written off. What has happened to those tracker funds that were going to take over from them?
June 1, 2006... Do you remember the late 90s and the well publicised spat that took place between Richard Branson's Virgin group and Fidelity over the merits or otherwise of paying higher fees for active management of funds? Now Anthony Bolton, one of the...

House price growth to slow down.(UK HOUSE PRICES)
June 1, 2006... The 1.1 per cent house price surge in March waned in April, according to Nationwide Building Society. The forecast for house price movements is erratic this year and Nationwide warns consumers "not to place too much emphasis on one month's...

Mortgages.(UK HOUSE PRICES)
June 1, 2006... Mortgages Lender Contact Rate Period Max LTV 2-year fixed rates with no extended redemption tie-in (Rate cannot go up or down during stated period) Stroud & Swindon BS 0845 725 2423...

Best buys performance tables.
June 1, 2006... Unsecured Personal Loan Selection Monthly payment Lender Contact APR 1,000 [pounds sterling]--Over one year Northern Rock ...

Investing with Anthony Bolton: The anatomy of a stock market phenomenon.
June 1, 2006... Investing with Anthony Bolton: The anatomy of a stock market phenomenon Who is the most successful investment manager in Britain? Arguments may rage but no professional would dispute that Anthony Bolton of Fidelity is among the very best....

The Intelligent Investor.
June 1, 2006... The Intelligent Investor Benjamin Graham taught and inspired people worldwide. Graham's philosophy of "value investing"--which shields investors from substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies--has made The...

Little Book That Beats The Market.
June 1, 2006... Little Book That Beats The Market Two years in MBA school won't teach you how to double the market's return. Two hours with The Little Book That Beats the Market might. Joel Greenblatt, Founder and Managing Partner at Gotham Capital (with...

Fundology.
June 1, 2006... Owning an investment fund is the easiest and most convenient way for investors to put their money to work in the world's financial markets. Yet only a handful of people really seem to understand how to make the most of the opportunity that...

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)
June 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Tim Cockerill, head of research at Rowan & Co Capital Management, argues tot one of the best-established cautious managed trusts. Investec Cautious Managed is ranked 12th out of 38 funds in the Cautious Managed sector over...

Long-term horizons: Keiron Root meets an investment trust manager who believes in making the most of the long-term benefits of that form of investment.(FUND MANAGER PROFILE)
June 1, 2006... James Henderson, manager of the Lowland Investment Trust, appreciates the importance of a consistent approach in generating long-term returns from equity portfolios. Lowland continues to follow a balanced strategy, investing in a broad range of...

Investment trust best buys: What Investment asks three investment trust specialists to recommend their favourite investment trust shates fir a cautious, a balanced and an aggressive investment.(INVESTMENT TRUSTS MONITOR)
June 1, 2006... What Investment asks three investment trust specialists to recommend their favourite investment trust shares for a cautious, a balanced and an aggressive investment CAUTIOUS OPTION Daniel Lockyer, investment trust analyst at iimia,...

Best ways to save.(REFERENCE)
June 1, 2006... Best ways to save Telephone Account Notice Number or Term INSTANT ACCESS BRANCH ACCOUNTS Post Office 0800 169 7500...

Personal pension annuity rates.(REFERENCE)
June 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...

Financial contacts ISA directory.(Directory)
June 1, 2006... Name & Address Name Of Scheme Type Maxi/ Cat/ Mini Standard Abbry Investments ISA Stocks & Both No Tel: 0845 7654321 Safety Plus...