Fund Strategy articles from May 2007

Fund Strategy archives from May 2007

COMMENT: Green agenda stifles ambition and growth.
May 7, 2007... The fund management industry seems to have taken on sustainability as a self-evident good. It is seen as being worthwhile almost by definition. The fundamental problems with the concept are ignored. Yet as Daniel Ben-Ami shows in this...

IN BRIEF: Fidelity to name Special Sits head.(Brief article)
May 7, 2007... Fidelity will name the successor to Anthony Bolton as manager of its #3.1bn UK Special Situations fund next week. It will end 11 months' speculation since it announced plans to split the old #6bn Special Situations fund into two. The new...

IN BRIEF: MPC opens two funds to retail.(Brief article)
May 7, 2007... MPC Investors has opened its Global Convertibles and Strategic Reserve funds to the British retail market, after both were granted FSA recognition. The Ucits III Luxembourg Sicav funds, managed by Miles Geldard and Lee Manzi, were launched in...

IN BRIEF: S&P removes fund ratings.(Brief article)
May 7, 2007... Standard & Poor's has removed the ratings for all but two of the European retail funds' Blackrock Merrill Lynch Investment managed by managers following the departure of Gavin Corr. He joined the group in 2005 from Morley and managed the...

Aegon to close Tech as assets plunge.
May 7, 2007... Aegon Asset Management has decided to close its Technology fund, with effect from July 31, following a precipitous decline in the fund's assets under management. At its peak in October 2000, the fund was #341m in size. However, since...

M&G shuffles managers on International Growth.
May 7, 2007... M&G has changed the lead manager on its #460m International Growth fund. Graham French has taken on the role of deputy manager, following the promotion of Greg Aldridge last week. French retains his other mandates, including the #2bn...

Credit Suisse recruits manager for "strong" Growth & Income fund.
May 7, 2007... Credit Suisse has recruited Marcus Hankey to run its #100m Growth & Income fund. Hankey will join the firm from Legal & General Investment Management, in July. The appointment follows the departure of the fund's former manager, Richard...

IN BRIEF: Lansdown unveils share price.(Brief article)
May 7, 2007... Hargreaves Lansdown has announced an indicative offer price range of 140-160p per ordinary share, prior to the firm's admission to the London Stock Exchange next week. The total offer size is 118.6 million ordinary shares. Copyright:...

IN BRIEF: New Star wins S&P A rating.(Brief article)
May 7, 2007... Standard & Poor's has awarded an A rating to New Star's UK Special Situations fund. The portfolio, run by James Ridgewell since May 2003, focuses on unpopular companies going through change and undervalued growth stocks. Copyright:...

Isa sales soar after sluggish start.
May 7, 2007... Isa sales rallied in March after a disappointing start to the year, according to statistics from the Investment Management Association (IMA). Net sales were #534m, up from just #88m in February. The upturn saw total net sales for the 2006/7...

Barings Russia fund clinches approval to register.
May 7, 2007... Barings has received FSA approval to register and promote its $35m (#17.5m) Russia fund in Britain. This follows the recent granting of Ucits III status to the Luxembourg Sicav, and Barings will apply to the Inland Revenue for UK...

Legg Mason shifts US Smaller Companies.
May 7, 2007... Chuck Royce and James Skinner have stepped down as co-managers on Legg Mason's US Smaller Companies fund. The #40m portfolio was handed to Whitney George at the end of March, with Lauren Romeo in support. According to Royce, the...

Investors sharpen appetite for North American dividends.
May 7, 2007... This week Jupiter Asset Management launches Britain's first retail American equity income fund. Unitholders voted to approve a change of structure for its North American fund to an income mandate on April 25, and the fund will change its...

STRATEGY: Inflation is set to trigger instability.
May 7, 2007... High growth, low interest rates and an increased appetite for high-risk debt are not a threat to the global economy - inflation and market volatility, rather than recession, are more likely. The latest World Economic Outlook from the...

TRENDS: Single name covers different styles.
May 7, 2007... Multi-managers can take one of two approaches to managing money - fund of funds or manager of managers - but the latter strategy allows greater flexibility, control and manager choice. Multi-managers have four main tasks: selecting...

Q&A: Company pursues value with theoretical rigour.(Interview)
May 7, 2007... Bill Miller, manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust, answers this week's questions from Simon Hildrey. Q: How do you select stocks? A: We manage the fund in the way a fund should be run according to finance theory. We select companies...

HUNGRY FOR PROGRESS: Against the grain.
May 7, 2007... The principles of sustainability permeate every sphere of life and encourage the growth of green capitalism - but the pursuit of these restrictive aims stifles progress and perpetuates poverty. Daniel Ben- Ami reports. Heard the one about...

HUNGRY FOR PROGRESS: Sustainable funds.
May 7, 2007... There is a large number of funds investing in sustainable themes. A few, such as products from CIS and Norwich Union, have "sustainable" in their name but many more follow the principles of sustainability. About #4.7bn is invested in ethical...

ANALYSIS: Invesco eschews ethics for returns.
May 7, 2007... Martin Walker, manager of Invesco Perpetual Children's fund, invests in so-called "sin stocks" to achieve results - a decision that has turned the fund around and enabled it to outperform. Anti-smoking campaigners were horrified to...

REVIEW: Simple message holds many gems.
May 7, 2007... John Bogle questions the value of advisers and says picking funds that track the index rather than trying to outperform the market, is the best way for investors to achieve good results. In the six and a half years since I have written...

AFI: Clear out makes way for new funds.
May 7, 2007... Panellists ditched 32 funds in last week's rebalancing of the three indices of the Adviser Fund Index - but the AFI series saw an increase in portfolios with the selection of 45 new funds. Seven fund groups joined the Adviser Fund Index...

FoFs: Cazenove pursues big cash holders.
May 7, 2007... Simon Wood, co-manager of Cazenove Capital Management's Multi-Manager Managed Equity fund, aims to protect the fund in falling markets by targeting managers who hold high levels of cash. Simon Wood, co-manager of Cazenove Capital...

FOCUS: First state makes strategic gains.(Company overview)
May 7, 2007... Streamlining its fund range and investing in a new management team has proved successful for First State Investments, which is now producing stronger results, writes James Teasdale. First State Investments' decision to focus on its key...

Fund Manager's Diary: 28 January to 2 February 2007.
May 7, 2007... Sunday Arrive at Karumo Waters hotel in Lagos, Nigeria after leaving Cape Town at 10 this morning. The flight from Johannesburg was delayed for two hours due to an aborted take-off followed by some maintenance. My hotel room floor is sopping...

COMMENT: Blair cannot claim credit for economy.
May 14, 2007... It is hard to separate Tony Blair's economic legacy from that of Gordon Brown. Both have played a key role in developing a narrow-minded approach to economic policy making over the past decade. And both have enjoyed considerable luck in being...

Bond chief set to quit Threadneedle.
May 14, 2007... Robert Stirling is to leave Threadneedle Investments, where he is head of fixed income. Threadneedle says Stirling is leaving to "pursue personal interests". It adds that no departure date has yet been agreed. Stirling has headed fixed...

UBS Global opens UK corporate bond to retail.
May 14, 2007... UBS Global Asset Management has unveiled its Corporate Bond UK Plus fund. The Oeic, which was soft-launched on March 7 for institutional investors, has already accumulated #67m in assets under management. UBS will market the fund to the...

Blackrock joins Swiss group for luxury fund.
May 14, 2007... Dominion Fund Management, a Swiss-based group, joined with Blackrock Merrill Lynch Investment Managers to launch a Guernsey-based fund that invests in luxury stocks. The definition of luxury is relatively broad with eight factors being...

IN BRIEF: HSBC unveils four new funds.(Brief article)
May 14, 2007... HSBC Investments has launched four capital-secured funds, as part of its new Foundation range. The UK Growth, Hong Kong Growth and European Growth funds each offer more than 100% exposure to the capital return of their indices. The fourth...

IN BRIEF: Jordan joins Credit Suisse.(Brief article)
May 14, 2007... Justin Jordan is leaving Close Investments to join Credit Suisse. Jordan, who has managed the #5.5m Close Special Situations fund since it launched last May, will join the Credit Suisse UK equity team in July. He will report to Crispin Finn,...

Dawnay Day offers Dow Jones linked structured investment.
May 14, 2007... Dawnay Day Quantum (DDQ) is to launch a structured investment offering investors an uncapped return on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index. The DDQ European Stockmarket Maximiser, which will be available from May 29 to July 6, seeks to...

Treasury looks at regulation reform.
May 14, 2007... The Treasury has proposed reforms, designed to reduce regulatory costs for British firms and improve international competitiveness. They include the introduction of paperless transactions for funds; a "protected cell" regime for Oeics;...

Assetz launches smaller offices property fund.
May 14, 2007... Assetz Fund Management is launching another commercial property fund. The Commercial Property Number Two fund will focus on smaller office units, rather than Grade 'A' commercial property. The group says it has identified a shortage of...

IN BRIEF: Bank raises rates by quarter point.(Brief article)
May 14, 2007... The Bank of England has raised interest rates by a quarter point to 5.5%, the highest level in six years. The Bank's monetary policy committee judged that the hike was necessary to meet the 2% target for consumer prices index inflation. It said...

SGAM set to unveil two bond funds.
May 14, 2007... Societe Generale Asset Management is to launch two new bond funds. They will be the first of the group's products to take advantage of the flexibility afforded by Ucits III. The Total Return Bond and the Core Plus Sterling Bond funds will...

New manager overhauls Alliance RCM US Equity.
May 14, 2007... Seung Minn has altered about 75% of the Allianz RCM US Equity fund since he took control of the #18m portfolio on April 2, 2007. Minn, who works in RCM's San Francisco office as head of its systematic value team, took over the mandate from...

Blackrock restructures European managers.
May 14, 2007... BlackRock Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has announced a manager reshuffle on its European range, following the resignation of Gavin Corr earlier this month. James Macmillan, BlackRock's head of European equities, has taken on...

IN BRIEF: Dalton launches Pan Asian fund.(Brief article)
May 14, 2007... Dalton Strategic Partnership has launched the Melchior Pan Asian Advantage Fund, managed by Sally Macdonald. The portfolio of 45-75 stocks seeks to exploit opportunities in Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand,...

IN BRIEF: F&C hires head of structured credit.(Brief article)
May 14, 2007... F&C has appointed Teimuraz Barbakadze as head of structured credit. He will be based in London and joins from the investment banking division of Societe Generale. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

CORRECTION: Bill Miller interview.(Correction notice)
May 14, 2007... Last week's Q&A interview with Bill Miller stated that Legg Mason's Value Fund is UK-domiciled. The fund is in fact domiciled in Dublin. The fund for British investors is the Legg Mason US Equity Fund. The British and Irish funds are mirrors...

Stockmarket highs may herald bubble.
May 14, 2007... The mainland Chinese stockmarket hit several consecutive highs last week despite action by the central bank to talk down soaring equity prices. China's Shanghai Composite index, which tracks the larger of the country's stockmarkets, rose...

T Bailey takes control of Alliance Liberation fund.
May 14, 2007... T Bailey has taken over the running of the #13m IF Alliance Liberation VII fund. It is the multi-manager group's first externally-run mandate. There are five funds within the Liberation range. Each is risk weighted, with Liberation IV the...

New manager slashes stock in Henderson Far East Income trust.
May 14, 2007... Michael Kerley, manager of the Henderson Far East Income investment trust, has reduced the number of stocks in the trust and is taking a cautious stance on the Asian stockmarket. Kerley, who took over the #204m trust when Michael Watt...

Economists fail to agree on impact of latest rate hike.
May 14, 2007... When Leeds United celebrated promotion to the top division of English football in 1990, Britain was suffering double-digit inflation. As Leeds agonises over dropping into the third tier of English football for the first time, inflation is...

STRATEGY: Germany leads Europe's renaissance.
May 14, 2007... Germany has shrugged off the "sick man" of Europe tag and leads the eurozone's healthy revival with growth in consumption and investment - which is also good news for the global economy. The past four years have been excellent for the...

TRENDS: Growth stocks look set for a revival.
May 14, 2007... Value stocks have performed well since stockmarkets peaked in 2000, but with the bull run coming to an end and macro conditions favouring them, growth stocks could soon catch up. Value stocks have outstripped their growth counterparts...

Q&A: Greece is the word for European opportunity.(Interview)
May 14, 2007... Vincent Devlin, manager of the Swip European fund, answers this week's questions from Adam Lewis. Q: Have interest rate rises in Europe had any effect so far in slowing the European economy? A: In 2006 GDP growth in Europe was 2.8%...

HIGH FLYERS: Buoyant views.
May 14, 2007... The Adviser Fund Index panellists made excellent choices in the last rebalancing as the high flying performance of all three indices has shown - can this season's revisions take the AFI series even higher? James Teasdale reports. ...

HIGH FLYERS: Aggressive AFI.
May 14, 2007... As with most of the previous rebalancing points, turnover in the Aggressive AFI was the highest of the three indices. The panellists added 36 new funds, while 21 constituents previously present were dropped. The number of constituents in the...

HIGH FLYERS: Rowan's AFI portfolio recommendations.
May 14, 2007... Tim Cockerill, head of research at Rowan and a recent addition to the AFI panel, explains the research methodology behind the group's AFI portfolio selections: "Our Aggressive, Balanced and Cautious AFI recommendations are directly...

HIGH FLYERS: Balanced AFI.
May 14, 2007... The Balanced AFI now stands at 116 funds, with a net addition of four funds to the index (25 new constituents were added, while the panellists discarded 21 funds that were held in the index over the previous six months). M&G, Rathbone and...

HIGH FLYERS: Cautious AFI.
May 14, 2007... With a net gain of just three funds (20 new funds added, 17 constituents from the previous AFI season dropped), the Cautious index saw the lowest turnover out of the three AFIs. Three fund management groups had two new funds added to the...

ANALYSIS: "Super-cycle" stokes call for metals.
May 14, 2007... Ian Henderson, who runs JP Morgan's Natural Resources fund, is defying the doomsters with his investments in unlikely performing commodities such as uranium, copper and platinum. In the early 1990s you couldn't give uranium away. The cold...

CHANNELS: Modern skills dovetail with traditional service.
May 14, 2007... Paul Farrant, managing director of IFPC, answers this week's questions from Frances Hughes. Q: What services does IFPC offer? A: We are an integrated practice that ties up financial planning with discretionary asset management. We...

FoFs: Fund benefits from bearish stance.
May 14, 2007... John Chatfeild-Roberts, head of Jupiter's fund of funds team, says that having a high cash weighting in the Jupiter Merlin Balanced Portfolio has helped avoid losses in fixed income. The Jupiter Merlin Balanced Portfolio has more than...

FOCUS: Schroders builds on income funds.
May 14, 2007... Schroders' focus on income intensifies - following the launch of its Income Maximiser and a conversion for its Far East fund - with a Global Equity Income portfolio, writes Will Jackson. Schroders has continued to focus on income over the...

Fund Manager's Diary: 23-29 April 2007.
May 14, 2007... Monday There are companies to see. Some just want to tell us about their business, because one day they will want additional capital to fund their growth. Not all our funds are tax incentivised, but we do try to take a longer term view of our...

COMMENT: Pessimist overlooks China's stunning feat.
May 21, 2007... Given the widespread view that China is emerging as a great power it is important to examine the contrarian case. In Britain the leading "China pessimist" is probably Will Hutton, an Observer columnist and chief executive of the Work...

Swuf seeks removal of trust board.
May 21, 2007... Scottish Widows Unit Funds (Swuf) has requested an extraordinary general meeting for shareholders in the UK Balanced Property trust. The firm, which holds 10.5% of the trust's issued share capital, has requested the removal of the board...

Manager to revert to fund in wake of departure.
May 21, 2007... Sandy Thomson, the former manager of Resolution Asset Management's UK Property unit trust, is set to leave the firm on August 1. Control of the #650m portfolio has reverted to John Wilson, who ran the fund from inception until Thomson's...

Legg Mason focuses on expansion in Britain.
May 21, 2007... Legg Mason Investments is to expand its fund range in Britain over the next 12 months and is seeking to acquire an asset manager. The additions to the range, which has eight funds and #911m in assets under management, will include fixed...

IN BRIEF: China announces cooling measures.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... The Chinese authorities announced several more measures last week to cool the economy. Interest rates will be raised, banks' reserve requirements will be increased and the renminbi will be allowed to trade in a wider band against the dollar....

IN BRIEF: Qualification text brought up to date.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... The Securities and Investment Institute has updated its Introduction to Securities & Investment workbook. It is the manual for the Introduction to Investment Foundation Qualification. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: New Star property fund discount.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... A 1% discount on the New Star International Property fund is available till June 4. The fund has a direct holding of about 80% in physical property and offers an estimated gross income yield of 4%. Its lead manager is Roger Dossett, the head...

IN BRIEF: Lance to co-head Schroder fund.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Schroder has appointed Ian Lance as co-head of its #1bn Schroder Income fund. He will manage the fund alongside Nick Purves who has run the portfolio since October 2003. Lance has worked for the UK equity team at Schroder since February 2007...

IN BRIEF: Lecture on house prices and rates.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, will discuss rising house prices and interest rates in a lecture at the University of Salford, on May 22. The lecture will be the first in a series of annual talks. Those...

S&W on brink of Nucleus expansion.
May 21, 2007... Smith & Williamson is expected to enhance its Nucleus fund range through the addition of at least one fund managed by AGF Investment Management and an Asia ex Japan fund. Canada-based AGF has a 30% stake in Smith & Williamson and Charles...

Credit Suisse shifts emerging markets stance.
May 21, 2007... Credit Suisse has sold the the Dublin-based #394.4m Thames River Global Emerging Markets fund from its Cautious Managed Portfolio. This comes two months after it was revealed that Gary Potter and Robert Burdett were to leave Credit Suisse...

Lyxor marks entry into Britain's ETF market with three new funds.
May 21, 2007... Lyxor Asset Management, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Societe Generale, has entered the British exchange-traded fund (ETF) market with the launch of three products. The firm has unveiled FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and FTSE All-Share trackers,...

IN BRIEF: Abbey and Kelly part company.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Abbey has announced the departure of John Kelly, manager of its multi- manager range. Kelly joined the firm in March 2002 and was instrumental in setting up the funds. John Bearman, the firm's recently-appointed chief investment officer, will...

IN BRIEF: Bear Stearns joins iPeit.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Bear Stearns Private Equity has joined the Initiative for Private Equity Investment Trusts (iPeit). The global fund of funds has a market capitalisation of about #280m. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

S&P may cut rating on Fidelity fund.
May 21, 2007... Standard & Poor's Fund Services may reduce its AAA rating on the Fidelity Special Situations fund following last week's announcement of the appointment of Sanjeev Shah as its new manager. Shah, who runs the offshore Fidelity European...

Aegon to pay high yield fund income more often.
May 21, 2007... Aegon Asset Management will move its #90m High Yield Bond fund from quarterly to monthly income payments on August 1. According to the firm, the change is the result of increased investor demand for more regular payments. Management...

Fund managers favour eurozone equities, survey finds.
May 21, 2007... Eurozone equities are at their most popular with fund managers since January 2000, according to the latest monthly global fund manager survey from Merrill Lynch. Of the main investment regions, the eurozone stockmarkets are seen as best...

IN BRIEF: Japan's GDP grows by 2.4%.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Japan's GDP grew by 2.4% on an annualised basis in the first quarter of 2007, preliminary estimates reveal. However, of the 0.6% quarterly growth, 0.2 percentage points came from domestic demand, with the rest from exports. Copyright:...

CORRECTION: Schroders.(Correction notice)
May 21, 2007... Last week's focus feature on Schroders incorrectly stated that it has #130m in assets under management. It had #132bn in assets at the end of March. Its client base includes from corporations, to high net worth individuals and retail...

IN BRIEF: FSA fines firm for portfolio breach.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Charterhouse Consulting Wealth Management #122,500 for carrying out discretionary management without permission. The FSA also found that Charterhouse failed to record sufficient client...

IN BRIEF: Pace of share buybacks rallies.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... The pace of share buybacks by investment trusts has picked up, according to a study by Wins Research. The firm found that #272m of stock was repurchased in April, the highest monthly total since January 2001. Wins says the trend may be the...

IN BRIEF: Credit Suisse hires manager.(Brief article)
May 21, 2007... Credit Suisse has appointed Kieron Nutbrown to oversee the foreign exchange overlay business for its asset management division. Nutbrown joins the firm from Black River Asset Management, where he ran the firm's Global Macro fund. Prior to that,...

Exports boom could trigger rate rise.
May 21, 2007... If British exports continue to boom, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may be forced to raise rates to check inflationary pressure. This is the view of James Carrick, investment strategist at Legal & General Investment Management. ...

Pantheon board proposes offer to raise #100m.
May 21, 2007... The board of Pantheon International Participations (Pip) has proposed a placing and an open offer of ordinary shares, with the aim of raising up to #100m. The London-listed private equity investment trust will use the inflow to fund...

Tightening fear strikes Chinese stockmarket.
May 21, 2007... After months of gravity-defying performance, the Chinese stockmarket has dipped recently on fears that the government may try to rein in speculation in the market. The Shanghai Composite index, which has risen by 130% in 2006 and nearly...

Industry welcomes appointment of Bolton's successor.
May 21, 2007... The announcement of Shanjeev Shah's promotion to take over Anthony Bolton's #3.2bn Fidelity Special Situations fund was in stark contrast to previous restructurings of the portfolio. Back in 2005 the news that the old UK Special...

STRATEGY: Robust market offers rich pickings.
May 21, 2007... Two factors are making the British market particularly resilient. Valuations are attractive, according to several measures, while mergers and acquisitions are bolstering equity prices. With investment overseas becoming more and more popular...