What Investment articles from November 2006

What Investment archives from November 2006

Accentuate the positive.(Comment--the bigger picture)
November 1, 2006... 'One of the first pieces of advice I was given on becoming editor of this magazine many years ago was to "think positive", in particular to emphasise those aspects of investing that make you feel good--like making money, rather than losing it!...

Asian specialization.(November news)
November 1, 2006... Jupiter is planning to restructure its Far Eastern unit trust to take advantage of the skills of both its Japan and its Asian specialists. It currently has a 73 million [pounds sterling] Far Eastern unit trust but is planning to...

Going green in Brazil.(News Round-up)
November 1, 2006... Socially responsible investment (SRI) funds are seen as an attractive opportunity by 62 per cent of people in the UK and Europe, according to research from ABN AMRO Asset Management. In line with this, the firm has launched its Brazil...

Aiming for protection.(News Round-up)
November 1, 2006... A new service aims to protect investors' assets from inheritance tax (IHT) within two years, rather than the usual seven by investing in the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The service, from fund manager Octopus Investments, invests in...

Transitional arrangements.(News Round-up)
November 1, 2006... Fidelity has opened its global Special Situations fund to investments from current and new savers. Aimed at the more adventurous investor, the fund manager can go anywhere in the world to locate investment opportunities, with no...

Property resolution.(News Round-up)
November 1, 2006... Resolution Asset Management has launched its UK Commercial Property Trust, a new 500 million [pounds sterling] closed-end vehicle. The trust is fully invested, with a diversified portfolio of UK commercial property assets. Clients of...

Professional timing.(News Round-up)
November 1, 2006... Private investors can now benefit from tools similar to those used by professional investors, thanks to a new web-based service called Time to Trade. The alerting service from Sensatus, a financial software firm, allows investors to use...

New commodity market.(News Round-up)
November 1, 2006... A new market segment launched by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) will allow investors to buy and trade commodities like shares without the need to access the futures market. The first of its kind in the world, the segment will contain 32...

More flexible access from Citibank.(November news)
November 1, 2006... Citibank has reduced the minimum balance from 10,000 [pounds sterling] to 1 [pounds sterling] on its instant-access flexible savings account. The account--the Citibank Flexible Saver high-interest savings account--can be opened online, by...

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

Top ten funds.(November news)
November 1, 2006... Top ten funds UNIT TRUSTS One Year 1 Std Life Inv UK Equity Uncons Ret 135.74 2 Baring Hong Kong China USD 131.49 3 Neptune Russ and Grtr Russ A Acc 131.20 4 streetTRACKS MSCI Eur...

Skandia UK Best Ideas.(New Offers)
November 1, 2006... The second in Skandia's Best Ideas range (the first was the global fund lunched in June), the idea is to maximise the benefits of multi-manager investing. Skandia asks ten of the UK's leading fund managers to pick their ten best stock ideas,...

First State Investments.(New Offers)
November 1, 2006... Managed by Sydney-based John Snowden, head of property securities at First State Investments, the group's Global Property Securities Fund will leverage off the investment process currently used to manage the Colonial First State Colliers...

Royal London Asset Management (RLAM).(Product of the month)
November 1, 2006... The aim for RLAM's Strategic Bond Fund is to provide investors with an attractive total return through active investment management in all types of bonds, some equities and also derivatives. It is a focused portfolio that is eligible for stocks...

AXA Framlington.(New Offers)
November 1, 2006... The AXA Framlington Japan Smaller Companies Fund aims to achieve long-term capital growth from a portfolio of mid and small-cap stocks across all sectors of the Japanese market. It is a UK-registered open-ended unit trust and is benchmarked...

Investing by numbers: Keiron Root wonders whether the chinking of a cherished part of the technical analyst's armoury will have any effect on those who follow it.(Lessons from history)
November 1, 2006... For this month's Lesson from History we are going back several centuries, to the Middle Ages to be precise. Around the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, a mathematician variously called Leonardo of Pisa or Leonardo Fibonacci, spent an...

Profiting from a sustainable future: Lindsey Rogerson examines how investors can identify those companies--and the funds that invest in them--that are best placed to benefit from the attempts to reverse the effects of climate change.(Climate change)(Cover story)
November 1, 2006... Global warming has been pretty much ubiquitous in its media presence of late--even US president George W Bush finally admits there might be something to the phenomena, the existence of which he had previously steadfastly refused to even...

Defying gravity: the UCITS III regulations have significantly widened the range of investment strategies that fund managers can adopt. But will they use their new powers wisely? Harvey Jones assesses the impact of the new rules.(UCITS III)
November 1, 2006... UCITS III may sound like another impenetrable and needless directive from Brussels, but this one actually has a practical purpose for UK investors. The catchily-named "Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities III"...

Quicker, easier, cheaper: using the internet for savings and investments could save you a mountain of hassle, not to mention money. Pauline McCallion looks at the options available online.(Online banking)
November 1, 2006... Nobody predicted the impact that the internet would have when it first became available to ordinary people. But in just a decade, the world wide web has cast its net across the globe and prompted a massive change in the way people communicate,...

Investing for growth: each month, what investment focuses on a potential growth stock highlighted by our sister publication Investing for Growth.(Growth stocks)
November 1, 2006... Investing for Growth is a monthly publication dedicated to uncovering growth stocks that might otherwise be missed by its readers. It bases its analysis on Company REFS--Really Essential Financial Statistics--an approach to financial analysis...

Genus--upwardly mobile.(ISA/CORE PORTFOLIO RECOMMENDATION)
November 1, 2006... Successfully featured as an IfG investment idea in December 2002 and June 2004, Genus became a full member of our Core Portfolio in May this year. The company intends to move to the Official List over the next few weeks, which could lead to a...

Market insider: the poles go to the polls: continuing our series providing a fundamental analysis of a region from an economic and political perspective. This month, Michael Wilson argues that Poland promises much once it gets a settled government.(WORLD MARKETS)
November 1, 2006... These days, the chances are that your newspaper is telling you more about Poland's expatriate workers than about the ones who choose to stay at home. Except for those rare occasions when we British actually need a Polish plumber--or a...

Market view: Tom Winnifrith considers the outlook for UK shares.(UK SHARES)
November 1, 2006... September historically sees a pick-up in trading volumes, as the summer draws to a close and investors return from their summer breaks. The old saying "Sell in May and go away and come back on St. Leger day" may have struck some investors as...

Sector view: water companies.(UK SHARES)
November 1, 2006... There is very little one can say on a business basis" that will make the water sector sound interesting. However, it is without doubt the backbone of the safe sector stocks within the UK market, offering a decent yield, stable earnings, with...

Share view: United Utilities and Severn Trent.(UK SHARES)
November 1, 2006... UK-quoted water utilities have always been representative of a sound, if somewhat uninspiring, investment. There are six key players in the UK market, which on a market capitalisation basis, are dominated by just two: Severn Trent and United...

European sector review: this month, Henk Potts looks at the prospects for utility companies.
November 1, 2006... With few signs that central banks around the world have finished raising interest rates in the current cycle, global growth is likely to slow over the coming 12 months. Against that backdrop for equity markets, some sectors will feel more...

Global equities: on the defensive: 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)
November 1, 2006... Sarah Arkle, chief investment officer at Threadneedle Investments, reports: "We continue to see an encouraging outlook for equities. The economic background is healthy and valuations are attractive. Growth in corporate earnings will clearly...

Bonds: waiting for the next move.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
November 1, 2006... Paul Read, co-head of Invesco Perpetual's fixed-income funds, says: "Clearly the main theme through most of the year has been one of policy tightening and the adjustment in bond yields higher, to levels that might be seen as more reasonable....

Commodities: hidden reserves.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
November 1, 2006... Mark Mathias, managing director of Dawnay Day Quantum, which has recently launched the latest two of its series of capital-protected commodity funds, argues: "We believe that the current market falls represent an excellent buying opportunity...

Property: investing all over the world.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
November 1, 2006... Property still represents an attractive and less volatile alternative to equities, both within the UK and further afield, according to Steve Buller, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Global Property Fund. He argues: "The London office...

Domestic arrangements.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)
November 1, 2006... My wife and I are both nearly 70 years old and have been married for 12 years. When we got married, I sold my flat and moved into my wife's house. I have no legal rights to this house, which is in her sole name and mortgage-free, but I have...

Lodging interest.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)
November 1, 2006... A few years ago, I read in a newspaper that a house owner who takes in a lodger does not have a tax liability on the first 4,800 [pounds sterling] or so of rental income. Is this still the case and, if so, is there any need to declare such...

Income concerns.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)
November 1, 2006... My wife and I own the Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income fund and New Star High Yield Bond income units. We are in our mid-70s and seek maximum income, although payment periods are of no consequence--monthly, quarterly or annually. Invesco...

Flexible wills.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answers readers' financial planning and investment queries)
November 1, 2006... I am most grateful for Jennifer Lowe's excellent and informative recent article "Beat Brown's IHT" on www.whatinvestment.co.uk. My wife and I are thinking of reassessing our wills. We were wondering if the surviving spouse, as trustee of the...

The money doctor: Andrew Merricks highlights sector-specific investment themes that might be attractive to investors who don't mind taking some risk.(Money doctor)
November 1, 2006... Virtually everyone who approaches me for investment advice wants two things --the best possible return with the least possible risk. But what about those who do want to take a risk? What is out there for them? Risk is a subjective word. For...

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)
November 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Martyn Ingram, fund analyst at Investors' Partnership argues that cautious investors need to look at the whole of their investment portfolios and suggests they increase their US exposure. JPM US is ranked 9th out of 69...

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

Long-term rewards: Keiron Root meets a manager who brings a stock picker's flair to the less familiar world of corporate bond investments.(FUND MANAGER PROFILE)
November 1, 2006... In the 20 years he has spent at Royal London Asset Management, Jonathan Platt has built a strong reputation as a fixed-interest fund manager, particularly in the relatively new area of corporate bonds. He explains: "I started with Royal London...

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)
November 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Daniel Lockyer, investment trust analyst at iimia, suggests that cautious investors consider a newly launched closed-ended property fund. The MedicX Property Fund launched at the end of October, so does not yet have a...

Investment trust performance tables.(INVESTMENTS TRUSTS)
November 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 10 years to 30 September 2006, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested....

How the City Really Works.(Book club: New titles to improve your investing)
November 1, 2006... How the City Really Works by Alexander Davidson The City of London has more of an impact on our jobs, our money and our lives than most people realise. How the City Really Works aims to explain the City in language everyone can understand....

Freakonomics.(Book club: New titles to improve your investing)
November 1, 2006... Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Wily do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really...

Smarter Investing.(Book club: New titles to improve your investing)
November 1, 2006... Smarter Investing by Tim Hale Smarter Investing cuts through the noise of conflicting investment advice to show you how to translate your investment goals into a personal portfolio that plays the probabilities in your favour with every...

Future Storm.(Book of the month)
November 1, 2006... Future Storm by William Houston and Robin Griffiths At 8.45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on 11 September 2001, flight AA011 from Boston crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, followed by further planes hitting the north tower...

Lack of supply sustaining house price rises.(UK HOUSE PRICES)
November 1, 2006... Average house prices increased by 0.4 per cent in September. They are now 4.3 per cent higher than they were a year ago, which is the fastest year-on-year rate of growth for two years, according to Hometrack's National Housing Survey. ...

Best buys performance table.
November 1, 2006... Figures correct as at 05.10.06 Unsecured Personal Loan Selection Monthly payment Lender Contact APR 1,000 [pounds sterling]--Over one year ...

Taking charge: Stephanie Spicer outlines the options available to those looking for more control over when they get medical treatment and how much they pay for it.(Private medical insurance)
November 1, 2006... Once the preserve of the wealthy, private medical insurance (PMI) can now cost less than you might think. This is the result of increased competition in the market and the introduction of a range of products to suit different budgets and...

Best ways to save.(REFERENCE)
November 1, 2006... Best ways to save Telephone Number Account INSTANT ACCESS BRANCH ACCOUNTS Manchester BS 0161 833 8880 Premier Plus Post Office ...

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