Fund Strategy articles from April 2009

Fund Strategy archives from April 2009

COMMENT: Gringo leaders to blame for crisis.
April 6, 2009... Daniel Ben-Ami, Editor While the G20 leaders were smiling politely for the world's media, the blame game on who was responsible for the economic crisis intensified. Several potential culprits are in the dock. Bankers are probably...

Duo revamp Liontrust Growth fund.
April 6, 2009... Liontrust's Julian Fosh intends to turn over 20% of the #342m First Growth fund he has inherited from Jeremy Lang, its departing manager. Fosh and co-manager Anthony Cross will remove stocks, such as United Business Media, that do not fit...

Aviva plans Oeic sub-fund linked to FTSE 100.
April 6, 2009... Aviva Investors plans to launch a structured product within a Ucits fund, a rare offering in the British market. The Oeic will be linked to the performance of the FTSE 100 and will have a degree of downside protection based on the level of...

Managers turn to gold to protect their assets.
April 6, 2009... Fund managers are repositioning their portfolios to reflect their views on quantitative easing. Star managers from Thames River and Investec have been buying gilts and long-dated bonds, and using gold shares to protect against inflation....

IN BRIEF: F&C raises High Income target.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... F&C has amended the investment remit of its #228m High Income fund, raising the annual target income to 5%. It was previously the Bank of England base rate plus two percentage points, which today would equate to an income target of 2.5%....

IN BRIEF: New manager for Schroders.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... ISFs Schroders has passed its Luxembourg-domiciled International Selection Fund (ISF) India and ISF Pacific mandates to Manish Bhatia after the departure of its previous manager, Millicent Lai. Bhatia has worked in Schroders' Hong Kong office...

IN BRIEF: Joblessness soars in OECD countries.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... Unemployment rates in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries will hit double figures by the end of 2010, according to the OECD's interim economic outlook. This will be the first time it has reached such a...

IN BRIEF: F&C trust called into question.(Brief article)
April 6, 2009... Shareholders in the F&C Commercial Property Trust have to vote on continuing the life of the investment trust. The trust is trading at a 24% discount and shareholders will vote at an extraordinary general meeting on May 1 on whether or not to...

CORRECTION: Port Asset Management.(Correction notice)
April 6, 2009... In the Focus on Premier, dated March 23, the article referred to the Hurlingham Balanced and Growth Funds as being managed by Premier. These funds are in fact now managed by 1st Port Asset Management. Premier is the authorised corporate...

CORRECTION: Gregory Turnbull-Schwartz.(Correction notice)
April 6, 2009... The author's name in the Strategy feature entitled 'Read between the lines on housing' in Fund Strategy last week was incorrectly spelled. The article was written by Gregory Turnbull-Schwartz, fixed income manager at Aegon Asset Management....

New Star managers make the switch.
April 6, 2009... John Duffield last week said goodbye and thank you to his employees as time was called on New Star Asset Management. For some the toast marked the end to nearly an eight-year journey, from New Star's official launch in July 2001. The...

Barclays in talks over sale of its iShares business.
April 6, 2009... Barclays entered into exclusive talks with CVC Capital Partners, a private equity group, last week over the sale of the bank's iShares business. The deal is suggested to be worth as much as #3 billion, well within the budget of CVC, which...

First State to soft close Latin American fund.
April 6, 2009... First State Investments will soft-close its recently launched Latin America fund when assets under management reach $200m (#137m). The group announced the launch of the fund, which will sit under First State's ICVC and be domiciled in...

Through the looking glass in a City filled with dreamers.
April 6, 2009... Michael wears gleaming gold tights and a jester's hat and jigs from side to side on his trampoline shoes as he explains the cause of the financial crisis. "Gender has a particular role to play in this fiasco: it's men who have created all of...

STRATEGY: A sterling game plan for investors.
April 6, 2009... Investors must get much smarter when considering the currency effect on shares and spotting opportunities in the market for players who may benefit from the weak pound. Sterling has fallen relentlessly. Over the past year, sterling has...

Q&A: Old Mutual puts faith in Asia and Australia.(Interview)
April 6, 2009... Phil Hunter, an Asian equities fund manager at Old Mutual, talks to Natalie Kenway. Q: What made you decide to return to Old Mutual? Why did you leave? A: I had been part of the Old Mutual group since 1997 and have focused on Asian...

CHINA DOWNTURN: China fights back.
April 6, 2009... The country seems to have coped with the downturn with some analysts predicting that it could see a sharp recovery this year. But will investors who buy into China's stockmarket make equally powerful long- term returns? asks Jack Mulchand....

CHINA DOWNTURN: Financial firepower.
April 6, 2009... China is set to become a key driver of the world's financial markets in future years, according to Deutsche Bank. In 10 years, China will account for about 13% of the global banking market, more than 16% of the world stockmarket and in...

CHINA DOWNTURN: Reinvigoration plans.
April 6, 2009... The Chinese government will cut back the country's manufacturing capacity to battle the global recession, whose impact on the Asian giant will likely be graver and longer lasting than the 1997 Asian financial crisis, according to Morgan...

ANALYSIS: Blackrock fund is positively booming.
April 6, 2009... After soaring from #300m under management to #1.4 billion in just over a year, BlackRock UK Absolute Alpha has many imitators. So why is its manager, Mark Lyttleton, not entirely happy? BlackRock UK Absolute Alpha is the Henry VIII of the...

INVESTMENT TRUSTS: Lone ranger captures market beta.
April 6, 2009... The only investment trust to launch so far this year, Harewood says its Enhanced Income vehicle uses daily call-selling options to outperform index falls, while still gaining value in bull markets. Only one company has so far had the...

AFI: Avoiding risk could be detrimental.
April 6, 2009... Given the impressive recent performance of the Aggressive index, up 13.33% since trough last year, investors that have no exposure to riskier markets could lose out if there is an upturn. The Adviser Fund Index (AFI) Aggressive index has...

FoFs: Gold shield for double protection.
April 6, 2009... The managers of the Cazenove Multi-Manager Global ex-UK fund made big defensive changes to the portfolio. Now they have upped its exposure to gold to hedge against a range of instability. "Gold has proven to be a hedge against inflation...

FOCUS: L&G works to win hearts and minds.
April 6, 2009... Legal & General enhanced its growing reputation as a retail funds provider last year with a rise in sales of 42%. But it still has some way to go to convince advisers, writes Hannah Smith. Legal & General is best known as a life and...

Fund Manager's Diary: 6-12 March 2009.
April 6, 2009... Monday My week begins at Fidelity's office near St Paul's. I arrive at 8am. My first task (and in fact every morning) is to read the Financial Times and check the email box. I also watch the early movements in the European markets. I am...

COMMENT: Time to escape from purgatory.
April 13, 2009... Daniel Ben-Ami, Editor Purgatory in Catholic theology is a condition of temporary punishment for those not entirely free of sin before they enter heaven. The concept could be worth adapting to help understand the response to the economic...

New Star underperformers get new managers.
April 13, 2009... Investors in the underperforming New Star Higher Income and Sterling Bond funds can expect changes to the portfolios, after manager changes last week. Following the completion of the merger of Henderson and New Star, Toby Thompson...

Isa season flat but bond funds dominate sales.
April 13, 2009... Isa sales figures from the major fund platforms indicate that this season was fairly flat, with corporate bonds still the dominant asset class. Cofunds reports an increase in sales of just 0.8% on last year's Isa season. Between...

IN BRIEF: Rathbone no longer a favourite.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Carl Stick's underperforming Rathbone Income fund has been dropped from Hargreaves Lansdown's list of favourite vehicles. The adviser firm removed the fund from the Wealth 150 because it says the manager failed to add value through stock...

IN BRIEF: Duet's African opportunities.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Duet Group, a London-based alternative asset manager, has launched an Africa fund after buying the assets in New Star's Heart of Africa last week. The Africa Opportunities fund will be managed by Dr Ayo Salami, the chief investment officer...

IN BRIEF: Omnis launches distribution fund.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Openwork and Octopus Investments have launched a distribution fund under the Omnis Investments brand. Omnis is a joint venture between the two firms and the IFDS Omnis Distribution fund is the fifth addition to the range. It is a multi-asset,...

IN BRIEF: Longer suspension for Arch cru funds.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... The suspension of the Arch cru fund range is likely to be extended to at least the end of May, Capita wrote in a letter to investors. The eight-strong Arch cru investor committee last week elected Kevan Ward as chairman. They will now consider...

IN BRIEF: Group rebrands investment arm.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... BDO Stoy Hayward has rebranded its investment arm as Fitzwilliam Asset Management. BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management has advised the Fitzwilliam fund range for years. However, the creation of the new brand aims to allow clients to link...

IMA ponders change in Money Market definition.
April 13, 2009... The Investment Management Association (IMA) is considering changing the definition of the Money Market sector. The association announced its support for a proposal by the Association of British Insurers to add a new "cash-like" money...

Out-of-favour stocks spur Melchior UK surge.
April 13, 2009... The performance of the Melchior UK Opportunities fund was significantly turned around after the manager cut exposure to small-caps and backed out-of-favour sectors. Glen Pratt moved into cyclical sectors, such as housebuilders, miners,...

Talking up recovery with the aid of the feelgood factor.
April 13, 2009... The FTSE 100 has risen by more than 10% in the past month. This has prompted fund managers to consider if this is a solid response to the aggressive measures taken by policy makers and the start of a recovery in equity markets, or an...

STRATEGY: A true measure of financial stimulus.
April 13, 2009... GDP is not always the best indicator of how a country is performing, given its economic lag. The housing market, credit market and real economy give a more realistic picture. The world is holding its breath to see the results of the...

TRENDS: New products for a value paradise.
April 13, 2009... Having created much false value in the past 15 years, and the banks destroying most of that in the past year, some good fundamental value and growth opportunities could be emerging. The phrase, "If I were setting out for there, I wouldn't...

Q&A: Martin Currie values stock-specific change.(Interview)
April 13, 2009... Ruairidh Stewart, co-manager of Martin Currie Global Energy, talks to Will Jackson Q: Martin Currie launched the Global Energy Oeic at the end of March. Why did you decide to create a specialist energy fund, rather than an onshore...

Reshaping US regulations.(Company overview)
April 13, 2009... The collapse of the US banking system has prompted calls for reform and even talk of a single regulator overseeing the framework. But there are concerns how far it should be revamped and that this could impede recovery, says Vanessa Drucker....

Credit defalut swaps - a Kabuki dance.
April 13, 2009... Newly minted exchanges for credit default swaps are burgeoning. Customised derivatives will be subject to more robust standards. In the wake of Lehman and AIG collapses, counterparty transparency has become a dominant driver. A fascinating...

ANALYSIS: Trojan's heroic actions put it on top.
April 13, 2009... Troy's Trojan equity income fund manager uses basic common sense for its investments, defying the mythology of always having to be fully invested. The results prove that it works. Four years ago I interviewed the boss, Sebastian Lyon, of...

IT: Gearing drags down Japanese trusts.
April 13, 2009... With the Topix at a 25-year low, it is no surprise that every Japanese investment trust underperformed last year. However, at current discount levels, some trusts look attractive. The state of the Japanese economy has been in the news a...

AFI: Financials demand tactical approach.
April 13, 2009... The economic crisis may have erupted in financial services, yet some advisers say there is good long-term value to be gained amid the sector's risks, as well as short-term market plays. As banks helped to bring the global economy to its...

FoFs: FundQuest cautious over UK equities.
April 13, 2009... Despite being primarily an equity portfolio, the CF FundQuest Select fund is underweight in this sector. Manager Paul Kim explains that this is because the UK still has many problems. The CF FundQuest Select fund managed by Paul Kim and...

FOCUS: Triple-strength brew for good health.
April 13, 2009... Schroders boasts one of the widest fund ranges in the industry, and half its 46 funds fit the three strategies on which it bases future success: UK equities, income and bonds, writes James Smith. Schroders, one of the fund management...

Fund Manager's Diary: 23-29 March 2009.
April 13, 2009... Monday "Meeting Monday" as I refer to it is the day we have all our internal meetings with the SIG research team to catch up on events, manager meetings and economic news. It's an intensive day covering all the asset classes but a great way...

COMMENT: Economics should rediscover reason.
April 20, 2009... Daniel Ben-Ami, Editor The two chapters of the International Monetary Fund's twice-yearly World Economic Outlook (WEO), published last week, provide interesting pointers to the character of the current downturn. They also exemplify the...

Gait heads new First State fund.
April 20, 2009... First State Investments has launched a Global Emerging Markets Sustainability fund. The new fund, managed by David Gait, the lead manager of the First State Asia Pacific Sustainability fund, is benchmarked against the MSCI Emerging Markets Free...

New Matterley trust will offer stake to investors.
April 20, 2009... Matterley is on the verge of launching its second retail offering, a 130/30 investment trust to be named Matterley Enhanced Alpha. George Godber, a co-founder of the company, will run the trust on behalf of an external party. The trust is...

Duffield expected to control New Star trust.
April 20, 2009... Henderson Global Investors fully expects John Duffield's new venture - Hyde Park Asset Management - to take control of the #60m New Star Investment Trust when the group is established. Hyde Park will be set up initially primarily to...

IN BRIEF: BlackRock gets TEET mandate.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... The board of the Eastern European Trust (TEET) has handed the #86.4m mandate to BlackRock, after removing Pictet as the manager last year. Pictet's Agne Zitkute ran the investment trust between March 2004 and May 2008. The mandate was then...

IN BRIEF: Barings appoints Japan desk head.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Jonathan Greenhill has joined Barings as head of Japan equities. He is responsible for the group's Japanese equity research and funds including the #12.7m Japan Growth trust. Barings recently moved its Japan desk to London. Greenhill joins...

IN BRIEF: Castlestone launch offshore art fund.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Castlestone has launched the Collection of Modern Art fund, an offshore eight-year vehicle investing in modern art. It will be managed by Angus Murray, Castlestone's managing principal, and domiciled in the British Virgin Islands. Murray...

IN BRIEF: Hargreaves publish Isa figures.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Hargreaves Lansdown has released the Isa season sales figures from its Vantage platform, showing that equity income and corporate bond funds continue to dominate. New Isa sales on the platform totaled #412m over the 2008-09 tax year, a...

Apocalypse not now, says survey.
April 20, 2009... The world is no longer on the brink of an apocalypse. That at least is the view of global fund managers judged by this month's Merrill Lynch survey. Gary Baker, co-head of international investment strategy at Banc of America Securities...

Managers of JPMorgan trust up their gearing.
April 20, 2009... The managers of JPMorgan's #280m European Fledgling investment trust have upped their gearing for the first time in two years. The trust has 108% gearing, enabling its managers, Jim Campbell and Francesco Conte, to buy into more of the...

China's growth over year 'effectively zero'.
April 20, 2009... China's economy has all but stalled in the past year despite it recording growth of 6.1% in the first quarter of 2009, experts suggest. According to Lombard Street Research, China's first-quarter GDP data confirms two things: the economy...

Despite troubles with GM, is America over the worst?
April 20, 2009... Last week was eventful in America, with the first quarter reporting season underway, Ben Bernanke cautiously optimistic on the economy and General Motors (GM) teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The country was first into the downturn and...

STATESIDE: Star comic savages Wall Street.
April 20, 2009... America's leading exponent of "fake news" has slammed the financial media for its slavish coverage of Wall Street. Fair enough, but what about the other co-conspirators? Comedy, gift of the Gods About half of American households own...

STRATEGY: Looking beyond the "men of straw".
April 20, 2009... The bankers have been under intense scrutiny recently, but are they the actual culprits? Peter Sudlow argues that while bankers may have exploited the situation, they did not create it. The witch hunt fables of old call to mind images of...

TRENDS: Small caps - a reliable return?
April 20, 2009... Fund managers are preparing for the upturn in the UK Smaller Companies sector after a reasonable performance in the first quarter of 2009, but will this be a dependable uptrend? The Investment Management Association (IMA) UK Smaller...

Emerging from the storm.
April 20, 2009... Africa's lack of financial depth, once seen as a weakness, has allowed its economy to flourish in a global recession that has hit most of the developed world. Stefanie Eschenbacher explores the new opportunities available to investors. ...

The promising candidates in Africa.
April 20, 2009... Several African countries are promising candidates to become part of "a second generation of emerging market countries," says David Nellor, the country representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Nigeria. "Today, macroeconomic...

Sheltered from the financial storm.
April 20, 2009... Remoteness paid. Weaker financial linkages with the rest of the world, once seen as a major stumbling block to Africa's development, are proving to shelter the continent from the raging financial storm. Christopher Hartland-Peel, an...

INVESTMENT TRUSTS: Hambro mines for long-term stocks.
April 20, 2009... BlackRock World Mining's newly appointed manager expects to make few changes to the investment trust. It will continue to focus on diversified mining companies such as Rio Tinto. Investors rarely welcome change when it comes to funds with...

ANALYSIS: Finding green ways round the screen.
April 20, 2009... As an ethical fund, F&C Stewardship Growth is prohibited from investing in 65% of the FTSE All-Share. But Hilary Aldridge takes it down some surprising avenues to match the index. Hilary Aldridge runs one of Britain's biggest and darkest...

AFI: Bonds helping to rebalance the risk.
April 20, 2009... The Adviser Fund Index is due to be rebalanced next month. However, November's asset allocation plays are likely to continue as the market rally fails to convince panellists. The most recent rebalancing of the Adviser Fund Index (AFI) took...

FOCUS: Perpetual motion in a global direction.
April 20, 2009... Invesco Perpetual is strong in UK equity income and bonds but says its future growth depends on developing other areas. Its present focus is on international equities, writes James Smith. Invesco Perpetual is focusing on its international...

Fund Manager's Diary: 16-22 March 2009.
April 20, 2009... Monday It's an 8am physio appointment for my dodgy back. I am not sure how effective it will be, but it's a relaxing way for Monday to begin. FTSE 100 is up around 100 points on the day and while Active Opportunities is not long of the junk...

COMMENT: New Labour must accept responsibility.
April 27, 2009... Daniel Ben-Ami, Editor The British government is presenting the origins of the economic crisis as purely external. It is depicted as an external shock on what would otherwise be a healthy economy. Such a portrayal conveniently absolves...

Artemis stocks up on European banks.
April 27, 2009... Philip Wolstencroft has moved the Artemis European Growth fund into an overweight bank position even though he admits the sector caused the fund to underperform last year. The manager says he is only buying higher quality bank stocks...

Decision close on Credit Suisse franchise sale.
April 27, 2009... A decision on the sale of Credit Suisse's #600m equity income franchise could be made within "weeks rather than months", according to a source close to the deal. Aberdeen Asset Management is expected to agree a disposal of the business...

Britain is heading for a #90bn hole, says IFS.
April 27, 2009... Lost tax revenues and higher social security costs will leave a #90 billion hole in the state finances, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The independent research organisation says the Treasury forecasts imply that the...

IN BRIEF: Fidelity portfolio closures approved.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... Unitholders in the Fidelity Multimanager Special Situations and Multimanager Equity Income funds have approved closure of the portfolios. Fidelity recommends unitholders switch into the single manager Fidelity Special Situations managed and...

IN BRIEF: Aegon renames bond fund.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... Aegon Asset Management will rebadge its #120m Global Bond fund as Aegon Strategic Bond. The name change is designed to reflect the fund's investment objectives more accurately. The fund joined the Investment Management Association's newly...

IN BRIEF: Schroders sees profits fall 54%.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... Schroders' pre-tax profit fell by 54% on a yearly basis in the first quarter of 2009, from #77.9m in the first quarter of 2008 to #36.1m this year. Its retail asset management division saw net inflows of #200m, a turnaround from outflows of...

IN BRIEF: Skandia changes manager line-up.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... Skandia has removed Axa Framlington's George Luckraft from the manager line-up on its UK Strategic Best Ideas fund. The group says the decision follows Axa's plans to close its Absolute Return UK fund, an institutional long/ short vehicle...

IN BRIEF: Manager for City of London launch.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... City of London Investment Group has recruited Sally Macdonald, who most recently worked at Dalton Strategic Partnership, and will launch the Asia Value & Growth Fund for her on July 1. The growth-orientated fund will focus on emerging Asia...

Isa increase gets a mixed reception.
April 27, 2009... Last week's decision to raise the annual limit on Isa investing received a mixed reaction from the funds industry. The government lifted the annual limit on Isas to #10,200. The new limit will be introduced for those over 50 in this tax...

Official data undermines Darling's GDP forecasts.
April 27, 2009... Official statistics called Alistair Darling's GDP growth forecasts into question within two days of the budget. The chancellor forecast that British GDP would contract by 3.5% in 2009 and the economy would start to grow by the end of the...

New framework cuts tax penalty for bonds.
April 27, 2009... Investment trusts will soon be able to invest in bonds without a tax penalty. This follows last week's budget, which announced a new tax framework for investment trust companies to enable tax-efficient investing in interest bearing assets....

IN BRIEF: New fund launch for Littlewood.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... Artemis has confirmed the launch of the Strategic Assets fund to be run by William Littlewood. The Strategic Assets fund will make full use of Ucits III powers and go long and short in equities, bonds and commodities. It can also invest in...

IN BRIEF: Schroders moves Income Maximiser.(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... Schroders has moved its Income Maximiser fund into the IMA UK Equity Income sector to compete with similar vehicles recently launched by other groups. The fund was placed in the IMA Specialist sector when it launched in 2005, because it...