What Investment articles from March 2006

What Investment archives from March 2006

The value of junk.(Comment--the bigger picture)
March 1, 2006... 'As I look at all the crossword entries we get every month, the thrift of What Investment readers never ceases to amaze me. The recycling of envelopes is amazing--we get crossword entries in envelopes from the Inland Revenue, utilities...

More dogs spotted.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... Bestinvest, the Investment Analysts and Brokers, has published its latest Spot the Dog guide exposing 3 billion [pounds sterling] of failing funds. The number of Dogs has fallen for the third consecutive year (2003:147 funds, 2004: 133,...

T1ps is tops.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... When it comes to choosing an informative and accurate tipping service, Tips.com easily beats the competition, According to empirical data from David Linton, the CEO of Updata PLC and Editor of tipstracker.com, T1ps.com--edited by What...

One for the road.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... A series of investment trust road-shows aimed at the private investor is being organised by the Association of Investment Trust Companies (AITC). Investors will have the opportunity to ask questions to the panel of experts from investment trust...

The Germans are coming.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... Container ships and wind farms are old news--the latest craze amongst German investors are British with-profit endowment policies, according to traded-endowment market maker, PolicyPlus. German investment houses are buying these policies by the...

Rates slashed.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... A flat-rate commission of just 4.95 [pounds sterling]--reduced from 14.95 [pounds sterling]--is being offered by E*Trade Securities for investors opening new UK share trading accounts. E*Trade says this offer is currently the lowest rate on the...

Free cash with strings attached.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... Legal & General is offering customers a rebate of the 2006 annual mgnt charge (excluding extra expenses) for lump-sum investments of at least 4,000 [pounds sterling] that have been made into one of a selected range of Legal & General ISAs...

Recent moves.(March news)
March 1, 2006... These are the latest fund manager moves from December 2006. 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... Jan 2006 ...

Top ten funds.(March news)
March 1, 2006... Top ten funds UNIT TRUSTS One Year 1 Baring Latin America USD 190.69 2 Schroder ISF Latin Amer A Acc 185.56 3 MLIIF Latin Amer Fund A2 USD 184.36 4 Investec Global Energy A Acc ...

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.(March news)
March 1, 2006... * Britannic Asset Management Britannic Asset Management--which will be renamed Resolution Asset Management in May 2006--has launched the Britannic Argonaut European Income fund. The new fund, which Britannic claims is one of the first true...

F&C asset management.(Product of the month)
March 1, 2006... The F&C UK Opportunities Fund will invest in a concentrated portfolio of 25 'best ideas', each of which has an equal weighting in the portfolio. F&C claims this is a distinctive and disciplined investment approach designed to focus the manager...

Once bitten, twice shy: Keiron Root examines the reasons why investors so consistently make the wrong moves.(Lessons from history)
March 1, 2006... One of the curious things about the investment market at the moment is the absence of what came to known as 'The ISA Season'. You must remember how, at the start of the decade, the first three months of the calendar year, which happen to...

Looking for alternatives: alternative energy--the next big growth area? Investors have made healthy profits by investing in oil-related stocks in recent times. But the gravy train will come to an end at some point, as oil is a limited resource. So what is going to take its place, and where can you invest to benefit from those who may hit on the answer? Stephen Spurdon goes prospecting.(Alternative energy)
March 1, 2006... The developing economies of China and India in particular have raised demand for oil, gas and coal--and pushed up the price. As the price of hydrocarbons increases, so formerly uneconomic reserves become attractive, as does further exploration...

All about the dividend? There's been a recent spate of launches of foreign income funds--but why? Is this just a way for asset managers to turn a quick quid on something that is eminently risky? Are they a 'good thing' or an accident waiting to happen?(Foreign income funds)
March 1, 2006... The bursting of the technology bubble in early 2000 signalled a return to favour for Equity Income. Such has been its popularity over the past five years, that it is the second-largest fund sector, with 11.1 per cent of the market, second only...

What goes up ... doesn't have to come down: absolute-return funds promise plenty of upside as well as protection when markets fall. But at what price? Nick Sudbury takes a look.(Absolute-return funds)(Cover story)
March 1, 2006... Traditional funds whose performance is assessed against a particular index like the FTSE All-Share will almost inevitably lose value when that market gives ground. Most investors, however, are more interested in beating the building society...

One wife, two houses ...(Money clinic: a panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... I am hoping you can help me with what might be a common problem. In January 2005, my wife and I married. We both own houses, both with mortgages, which have both increased in value since purchase five years prior to our marriage. We only...

Renting a nest.(Money clinic: a panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... We have just sold our flat, clearing around 100,000 [pounds sterling] and have moved into a rental property while we consider our next options. Those options may involve buying a house if we can afford to do so. We are also having a baby, which...

Mess of pensions.(Money clinic: a panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... I am an employee still some years from retirement, with a variety of pension arrangements (Section 32 buy-out, final-salary deferred, with-profits AVC, money purchase AVC and stakeholder personal pension). I have two concerns with respect...

The emerald isle.(Money clinic: a panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... I am interested in investing in exchange traded funds (ETFs) held within an ISA wrapper. As these funds seem to be based in Dublin, what is my position regarding income tax? Do I need to enter details of these funds on my income tax form if I...

Investment website Top Ten: there are scores of websites targeted at the private investor, but most of us only visit a handful on a regular basis. Harvey Jones asks the experts for their top picks and then assembles the What Investment 'Website Top Ten'.(Technology)
March 1, 2006... There must be some essential websites out there that you've either never visited, have forgotten about, or don't even know exist, and some of these could work wonders for your portfolio, So here's a Top Ten list of indispensable (and free)...

Bricks and stones will make my bones.(Property funds)
March 1, 2006... Following changes to the ISA legislation and property funds qualifying for ISAs and PEP transfers, a spate of funds have been launched to cater for the anticipated demand. However, some property funds differ markedly from others, and what if...

Global equities: go east 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)
March 1, 2006... The message from Michael Hughes, chief investment officer at Baring Asset Management, is that 2006 will herald the start of a sustained period of instability for developed economies and that future growth is more likely to come from the markets...

Bonds: moving downhill slowly.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
March 1, 2006... Jim Goodey, manager of the Collins Stewart Total Return Bond Fund, argues that it has been a mixed bag for bond markets, both during the most recent quarter and over 2005 as a whole. Government bonds have been poor performers, as evidenced by...

Commodities: more than lust an oil story.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
March 1, 2006... Mark Mathias, managing director of Dawnay Day Quantum, points out that he has been advising clients to take an exposure to physical commodities since 2004. "We're still in the first half of the commodities bull market, and the time is right for...

Property: high-rise offices.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
March 1, 2006... Offices were the best performing part of the commercial property universe in the last quarter of 2005, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) commercial property survey. Demand for office property saw the biggest...

Market insider Canada: continuing our series, providing a fundamental analysis of a region from an economic and political perspective. This month, Michael Wilson considers the outlook for Canada.(WORLD MARKETS)
March 1, 2006... Americans have always rather enjoyed poking fun at the Canadians. Serious, slow-witted, provincially-thinking, heavy-drinking, rural backwoodsmen--the targets of Californian chat show host Jay Leno's humour have had to learn to grit their...

Market view: Tom Winnifrith considers the outlook for UK shares.(UK SHARES)
March 1, 2006... January was another good month for equities. The Christmas trading updates from the retailers were a mixed bag but, on the whole, the less-bad-than-expected (Next, Boots, M&S and Tesco) outweighed the shocking warning (HMV, Clinton Cards and...

FTSE 100 index.(UK SHARES)
March 1, 2006... FTSE 100 INDEX Stock 1 month Rank 1 year Rank 3i Group plc 108.20 21 141.63 25 Alliance & Leicester PLC 101.01 55 118.82 56 Alliance...

Share yields by market cap.(UK SHARES)
March 1, 2006... SHARE YIELDS BY MARKET CAP Name Yield Market Cap. BP PLC 3.2 139260.10 HSBC Holdings PLC 4.6 106114.00 GlaxoSmithKline ...

Sector view: mining.(UK SHARES)
March 1, 2006... Mrs W held some shares in Rio Tinto--154 to be exact--and had held them for ages. She only alerted me to this fact the other day and, with the stock trading at record highs and levels that no sane person could enjoy, there was clearly no...

Share view: mining.(UK SHARES)
March 1, 2006... I cannot get too excited about the majors. That is not because I expect metals prices to crash--I do not. I suspect that Chinese/Indian demand will maintain prices at--or above--current levels for several years. On that basis, profits in 2006...

European sector review: Hilary Cook, director of investment strategy at Barclays Private Clients, looks at several companies in the European Telecoms sector.(STOCK MARKET REVIEW)
March 1, 2006... Last year was a difficult one for the Telecoms sector. Increasing levels of competition and higher levels of capital expenditure--required for developing third-generation (3G) broadband--contributed to declining earnings visibility. Valuations...

Home is where the tax is.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... Government fiscal policy has left homeowners more than 10 billion [pounds sterling] a year worse off than they were in 1994, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Twelve years ago, tax relief on mortgage interest and income...

Half a billion.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... According to research by MoneyExpert.com and Defaqto, the nation collectively paid 553 million [pounds sterling] in penalty fees and charges on financial products in 2005. On average 7.8 million people (one in five) have paid penalty fees of...

Holes in Barclays' wall.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... In an effort to make itself more accessible and to use language that is in common usage, Barclays will be redesigning over 1,500 branches nationwide to make them more appealing to customers. Gone will be that American acronym the ATM...

Bye bye, bank.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... Almost one in two adults in Great Britain (48 per cent) who moves from one retail bank to another, does so because of poor customer service, according to research conducted by YouGov on behalf of Deloitte, the business advisory firm. Some 45...

Heartaches by the number.(News Round-up)
March 1, 2006... More than 2.5 million people have seen house sales fall through in the past five years, with time-wasting buyers or sellers among the biggest reasons for the failure of the deal, new research by Spring Move Ltd reveals. Research from the...

Flash the cash: the cash mini-ISA is arguably the easiest component of the ISA regime to understand. But, as Martin Fagan explains, there are certain things to bear in mind to get the one that best suits your needs.(Cash ISAs)
March 1, 2006... Even in times when global stock markets are the healthiest they've been in almost six years, keeping some cash on deposit is a good thing for a number of reasons. But, because of inflation constantly eroding the purchasing power of cash, it...

The money doctor.(Money doctor)
March 1, 2006... Venture capital trusts (VCTs) were introduced in 1995 as a means of kick-starting investment into unquoted and fledgling companies. They tended to be vehicles most people were vaguely aware of, yet only die-hard risk-takers actually bothered to...

UK house price growth accelerates in final quarter.
March 1, 2006... January saw house prices increase by 1.4 per cent, according to the Nationwide--the biggest jump since July 2004 when annual inflation was topping 20 per cent. The average UK house price was 158,478 [pounds sterling] in January, up from 151,757...

Best buys performance table.
March 1, 2006... UK HOUSE PRICES Map shows house prices for the fourth quarter of 2005 Scotland [up arrow] Average price 117,915 [pounds sterling] Annual price change +7.1% N. Ireland ...

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)
March 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Martyn Ingram, fund analyst at Investors' Partnership has an unusual suggestion for investors at the cautious end of the spectrum. The Premier Selector Balanced Fund is ranked 3rd out of 28 funds in the Cautious Managed...

Unit trust performance tables.(UNIT TRUSTS OEICs)
March 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 31 January 2006, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested. Funds are listed by sector so that you can...

Getting back to the factory floor: Keiron Root meets someone who has moved back from running a fund management company to actually managing funds.(FUND MANAGER: PROFILE)
March 1, 2006... A decade ago, Tim Guinness was managing fund managers as a director of Guinness Flight Global Asset Management, the fund management company he jointly built up with former MP Howard Flight. Today, he is still in charge of his own fund...

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)
March 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Nick Greenwood, head of investment trusts at iimia, argues for more cautious investors to consider the income shares issued by one of the more specialist split capital trusts. The income shares of BFS US Special...

Investment trust performance tables.
March 1, 2006... Investment 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 31 June 2005, on an midmarket basis with net income reinvested. Funds...

Personal pension annuity rates.(REFERENCE)
March 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.(Money facts)
March 1, 2006... Best ways to save MONEY fACTS Telephone Number INSTANT ACCESS BRANCH ACCOUNTS Universal BS 0845 070 1314 Leeds BS 0113 225 7777...

Cash ISAs.(REFERENCE)
March 1, 2006... CASH ISAs Company Notice Minimum % gross or term deposit MINI CASH ISAs 1,000 [pounds sterling] Alliance & Leicester None (H) 1 [pounds sterling] ...

Tessa-only ISAs.(REFERENCE)
March 1, 2006... TESSA-ONLY ISAs TESSA ONLY ISAs 3,000 [pounds sterling] Halifax None (H) 1 [pounds sterling] 5.00% Harpenden BS 28 Day 100 [pounds sterling] 5.00% Kent Reliance BS Instant 1...

National savings & investments.(REFERENCE)
March 1, 2006... NATIONAL SAVINGS & INVESTMENTS Product Notice/ Minimum Term Deposit ACCOUNTS AND BONDS Easy Access Savings Instant 100 [pounds...

Top-performing unit-linked pensions.(REFERENCE)
March 1, 2006... Top-performing unit-linked pensions Five years to 31 January 2006. Results of 100 [pounds streling] invested on offer-to-bid basis with gross income reinvested. Name Value Rank ...