What Investment articles from September 2006

What Investment archives from September 2006

It all comes round again.(Comment--the bigger picture)
September 1, 2006... 'Well, here I am again, starting another stint in the Editor's chair nearly 17 years after I first started steering the Good Ship What Investment. A lot has happened in the intervening period, not all of it positive, that has affected the...

Double options.(September news)
September 1, 2006... Skipton Building Society is also offering two index-linked investment bonds offering investors the opportunity of linking their returns to rises in FTSE 100 and Halifax House Price Index. The Guaranteed Double Asset Bond and Guaranteed Triple...

Back at the table.(News Round-up)
September 1, 2006... Skipton Building Society is launching a new sharedealing service, in partnership with broker Stocktrade, the execution-only division of Brewin Dolphin. Investors using the new service will be able to buy and sell shares via telephone or over...

ITs expanding.(News Round-up)
September 1, 2006... Henderson Global Investors, one of the largest managers of investment trust portfolios, has announced that it is bringing together all its private investor services into one single flexible and cost-effective entity. Itshenderson, as the new...

Behind the curve.(News Round-up)
September 1, 2006... Research compiled by Barclays Wealth indicates that although most people are aware that they need to save more for their retirement, they face practical problems in doing so. Affordability seems to be the key factor people consider when...

Roll up, roll up.(News Round-up)
September 1, 2006... This year's UK World Money Show takes place in London at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on 29-30 September. The second annual show is a two-day educational event for private investors and active traders, featuring over 70 major...

Triple security.(News Round-up)
September 1, 2006... Keydata has launched the latest in a series of capital-protected products, aimed at providing investors with the opportunity to benefit from a range of professionally managed investments whilst securing the value of their original capital. ...

Top ten funds.(September news)
September 1, 2006... Top ten funds UNIT TRUSTS One Year 1 Neptune Russ and Gtr Russ A Acc 157.75 2 Merrill Lynch Gold & Gen Inc 157.28 3 CF Ruffer Baker Steel Gold O Acc 154.08 4 Investec GSF Global Gold A Inc...

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.(September news)
September 1, 2006... * Brown Shipley Private bank Brown Shipley has launched a specialist AIM Portfolio Service, an investment scheme with attractive tax connotations for wealthier investors. With a minimum investment of 100,000 [pounds sterling], the 'AIM...

Here we go again ... Keiron Root ponders the cyclical nature of global investment trends.(Lessons from history)
September 1, 2006... Following on from last month's look at the changing nature of the UK stock market, it seems sensible to look at the global picture. 'Globalisation' has become a major theme in investment strategy over recent years--I have lost count of the...

Vital signs: how could you spot the next Enron, Worldcom or Parmalat? Robert Leach marks your card.(Corporate failures)(Cover story)
September 1, 2006... "If only we could have spotted the rascals ahead of time"--that's the lament of anyone who bought Enron, or who worked at a now-collapsed company like Global Crossing or who trusted any corporate forecast that proved way too upbeat. Most...

Once bitten, twice shy: many investors who bought split capital investment trust shares in the 1990s believing them to be low risk got a rude awakening when the market fell and their losses mounted. Harvey Jones asks whether splits will ever be trusted again.(Split caps)
September 1, 2006... Split capital investment trusts will be forever linked with the notorious City scandal that cost 25,000 investors in 40 trusts more than 650 million [pounds sterling], and wiped out some poor souls' retirement savings. Most private investors...

Ten years gone.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)
September 1, 2006... I wish to bring to your readers' attention, if they have endowment shortfalls, a potential problem with the calculation of compensation. The programme used for the compensation process is called Mortgage Fundamentals. This programme was used to...

Annuity blues.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)
September 1, 2006... On reading the Money Doctor article (July 2006) on the treatment of contracted-out money, it raised the following questions in my mind and I wonder if you could give an opinion on them. I have been retired for almost four years, having...

Trust in trusts.(Money clinic: A panel of independent experts answer readers' financial planning and investment queries)
September 1, 2006... I found your very clear article on Trusts in the June issue, and also your answer on this subject in the May issue, both extremely helpful. Is it still possible to put a single premium insurance bond into a Bare Trust for my two adult children...

Under the microscope: what are VCTs? And has Gordon Brown's meddling made them less attractive and more risky?(Venture capital trusts)
September 1, 2006... Venture capital trusts (VCTs) have been favoured in recent years for offering big breaks on income tax. But Gordon Brown's changes in last year's Budget have altered them somewhat. So what do they do, how do the tax breaks work, and how risky...

Global equities: losing interest: each month, Whet 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)
September 1, 2006... Guy Monson, chief investment officer of Sarasin Chiswell, highlights some remarkably positive indicators for global equity investors, despite the numerous geopolitical problems that have been affecting market confidence. He points out: "Despite...

Bonds: buying on weakness.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
September 1, 2006... Interest rate rises also had a marked effect on bond markets. Jon Cunliffe, head of interest rate alpha at ABN AMRO Asset Management, feels: "The MPC's decision to raise rates caught the market on the hop, with the result that gilts sold off...

Commodities: in-built advantages.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
September 1, 2006... Jonathan Bell, chief investment officer at Stanhope Capital, says: "Chinese growth, and the consequent demand for raw materials, have supported the rise in commodity prices in recent years. Further growth in demand from China and from broader...

Property industrial profits.(ASSET ALLOCATION)
September 1, 2006... During the recent spell of market volatility, property indices showed that direct investments in bricks-and-mortar assets outperformed funds that hold property shares, according to Bambos Hambi, head of multi-manager funds at Gartmore. "The...

Market insider Chinese indigestion: continuing our series providing a fundamental analysis of a region from an economic and political perspective. This month, Michael Wilson considers the effects of rapid economic expansion on the Chinese market.(WORLD MARKETS)(Industry overview)
September 1, 2006... It scarcely seems possible, but it's now been nearly 30 years since China's supreme communist leader Deng Xiaoping told his long-suffering people that "to get rich" was "glorious". At that time it must have seemed like an impossible dream--not...

Market view: Tom Winnifrith considers the outlook for UK shares.(UK SHARES)
September 1, 2006... Indices, because they are weighted baskets of shares can--indeed, usually do--mislead. It is a fact we have noted here before. Since most people mistake the FTSE 100 for 'the stock market', they might have assumed July was a good month for...

European sector review: this month, Henk Potts looks at the prospects for the banking sector.(UK SHARES)
September 1, 2006... Investors looking for a safe haven amid the continued stock market volatility should check out the banking sector. We have an Outperform recommendation on the sector, which remains one of the most defensive bets in the current environment. Our...

Sector view: mining exploration.(UK SHARES)
September 1, 2006... The mining exploration sub-sector has had a few fairly rough months since peaking in March. A number of IPOs have been pulled and companies seeking to raise secondary funding have had to slash their asking price if they are to raise any cash at...

Share view: Glencar and Centamin.(UK SHARES)
September 1, 2006... If you are seeking a pure exploration play, my current favourite is Glencar, an Irish-based AIM company which over 35 years has almost gone bust several times and has always provided thrills and spills. Now it is in a thrill phase. It owns five...

Charting the future: Nick Sudbury explains how technical analysis can help longer-term investors to identify the most promising investments.(Technical analysis)
September 1, 2006... Broadly speaking, technical analysis, or 'charting', can be thought of as the study of price movements through the use of charts. The idea is to analyse the data to gauge the prevailing sentiment--the net effect of the actions of all the buyers...

The money doctor: receiving a steady and meaningful income remains a massive problem for those seeking it in today's economic climate. The advance of wrap products has gone some way towards helping out.(Money doctor)
September 1, 2006... One of the most common situations that I deal with is that of someone receiving a "one-off" amount of money, through retirement, inheritance, or from the sale of a property to pay care fees for example, from which a reliable and consistent...

Best buys performance tables.
September 1, 2006... London driving UK price growth The mixed messages continue for house prices. Housing information provider Hometrack recorded a rise in house prices of 0.6 per cent in July, lifting growth to 5.2 per cent this year. London is still...

Black Gold.
September 1, 2006... * Black Gold by George Orwel "The twenty-first century is starting out with a wake-up call," says trusted oil analyst George Orwel in BLACK GOLD: The New Frontier In Oil For Investors. "We must get prepared for an impending catastrophe....

The Beginners Guide to Financial Spread Betting.
September 1, 2006... * The Beginners Guide to Financial Spread Betting by Michelle Baltazar Spread betting was once the domain of institutional investors, city traders and high rollers. Not any more. You would now be hard-pressed to find any other form of...

Long Tail.
September 1, 2006... * Long Tail by Chris Anderson What happens when there is almost unlimited choice? When everything becomes available to everyone? And when the combined value of the millions of items that only sell in small quantities equals or even exceeds...

The New Spend Less Revolution.
September 1, 2006... Who would have ever thought that by spending less, you could actually have more? The New Spend Less Revolution is a financial investment, treating readers to a year's worth of money-saving and life-improving tips. Rebecca Ash's book helps to...

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)
September 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Justin Modray, head of communications at Bestinvest Brokers, suggests cautious investors look at a mixed portfolio with a high bond content. New Star Managed Distribution is ranked 18th out of 40 funds in the Cautious...

Unit trust performance tables.(UNIT TRUSTS OEICs)
September 1, 2006... 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 31 July 2006, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested. Funds are...

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)
September 1, 2006... CAUTIOUS OPTION Tim Cockerill, head of research at Rowan & Co Capital Management, highlights the less volatile returns to be had from a property-based portfolio. The shares of ISIS Property Trust are ranked 7 out of 13 in the Property...

Investment trust performance tables.(INVESTMENT TRUSTS)
September 1, 2006... Investment 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 June 2006, on an offer-to-bid basis with net income reinvested. Funds are...

Best ways to save.(REFERENCE)
September 1, 2006... Best ways to save Telephone Account Number INSTANT ACCESS BRANCH ACCOUNTS Post Office 0800 169 7500 Instant Saver Leeds BS 0845...

Personal pension annuity rates.(REFERENCE)
September 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)
September 1, 2006... FINANCIAL CONTACTS ISA Directory Name & Address Name Of Scheme Abbey Investments ISA Tel: 0845 7654321 Safety Plus Growth ...