Fund Strategy articles from October 2006

Fund Strategy archives from October 2006

COMMENT: Technical analysis is not scientific.
October 2, 2006... Is technical analysis a valuable tool for investors or the financial equivalent of reading tea-leaves? For its supporters it is a way of discerning patterns in the behaviour of share prices, while for its critics it is hokum. Sunil...

Barclays Wealth to manage BGI funds.
October 2, 2006... Barclays Wealth Management is to take ownership of Barclays Global Investors' range of eight UK retail Oeic funds, which are worth a combined #1.5bn in assets. If approved by shareholders the eight actively managed funds, which include BGI...

Canadian group plans UK-listed investment trust.
October 2, 2006... Sentry Select Capital Corporation, a Canadian-based fund group, is planning to launch a UK-listed investment trust of Canadian income trusts. The trust, which it expects to be unveiled in November, will target an annual yield of 7%, which...

Fidelity American Special Sits reopens to new investors.
October 2, 2006... The Fidelity American Special Situations fund is reopening to new investors for the first time in almost three years. The change comes three months after new manager Bob Haber took over the fund. In November 2003 restrictions were placed on...

IN BRIEF: Insight cuts fee on two funds.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Insight Investment has cut the initial charge on two of its funds by 1.25%. The Monthly Income and UK Corporate Bond funds will now charge 4%, rather than 5.25%. The discount is available until December 29, 2006. The Monthly Income fund is...

IN BRIEF: LSE opens market for commodities.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The London Stock Exchange has launched an exchange traded commodities market segment. It enables investors to buy and trade commodities like shares, without the need to access the futures market. It contains 32 exchange traded commodities...

IN BRIEF: Fidelity adds new links to bond.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Fidelity FundsNetwork has added 21 new fund links to its onshore Investment Bond. Launched in December 2005, the bond offers access to a wide range of funds covering all the major asset classes and markets. The 21 new fund links take the total...

IN BRIEF: Specialist funds still best sellers.(Bibliography)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Specialist funds remain the top sellers on FundsNetwork, while the UK continues to be the favoured single equity market. The various UK sectors combined account for 45% of sales on FundsNetwork. Global growth and global emerging market sectors...

IN BRIEF: Close Finsbury hires sales people.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Close Finsbury Asset Management has appointed two sales people. Adrian Sharpe, formerly of Threadneedle, joins as discretionary sales manager, while Patrick Koupland, previously at Cazenove, joins as a sales executive. Sharpe will be...

IN BRIEF: T Bailey boosts sales department.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... T Bailey is expanding its sales team with the appointment of Paul Sandley as marketing executive and Kate Elliot as sales support. Sandley, who joined the team last week, is responsible for promoting the T Bailey brand. Elliot, who joins later...

Alliance opens asset management arm.
October 2, 2006... Alliance Trust is opening a new asset management business - AT Asset Management - through which it will launch two new funds. The new business will be based in Hong Kong, where it is expected to be issued with an asset management licence...

Specialist sector top for eighth month running.
October 2, 2006... The specialist sector saw the strongest net retail sales in August, for the eighth consecutive month, with property portfolios accounting for 98% of inflows. Net retail sales in the sector were #418m, compared with just #100m in August...

Baring hires Emerging Europe trust manager.
October 2, 2006... Baring Asset Management has appointed Martin Majdaniuk as manager of its #300m Emerging Europe investment trust. Majdaniuk will join the firm towards the end of the year from Nordea Investment Management, based in Copenhagen. He replaces...

IN BRIEF: Insight launches multi-manager.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Insight is launching a euro-denominated multi-manager absolute return fund.The Insight Global Diversified Return fund is an actively managed, multi-asset, global portfolio. It aims to provide a positive return for investors under all market...

Jefferson set to leave Henderson after review.
October 2, 2006... Phil Jefferson is leaving Henderson after two years as director of UK wholesale. He joined the group in July 2004 from First State, where he was head of retail sales. Jefferson's role at Henderson was to conduct a two-year review of the...

Fidelity unveils multi-manager line-up.
October 2, 2006... Fidelity International has revealed the line-up of its recently launched Multi-Manager Distribution fund. Managed by Richard Skelt and Simon Mungall, the fund is split between property, equity and fixed income funds. Between 10 and 15...

Pre-X Capital looks to raise #10m through EIS.
October 2, 2006... Pre-X Capital Management, established in October 2005 by John Blowers, is seeking to raise #10m in an Enterprise Investment Scheme that invests in pre-initial public offering companies. Described by Blowers as a "ultra-high-risk,...

IN BRIEF: First State adds to property team.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... First State Investments has added to its property securities team with the appointment of Matthew Gulczynski as a property securities analyst. Gulczynski was previously an equities analyst at UBS Securities, in its real estate research team....

Climate change anxiety masks high price of mitigation.
October 2, 2006... The consensus that cutting carbon emissions is the only way to tackle climate change is almost universal. Even the few who were sceptical about the need for a low-carbon economy are dwindling in number. Several fund management groups...

Jupiter to restructure Far Eastern fund.
October 2, 2006... Jupiter is planning to change the investment policy and restructure its #73m Far Eastern unit trust. Subject to unitholder approval, all of the fund's Japanese investments, which represent 51% of its assets under management, will be...

Investec plans campaign to increase funds' assets.
October 2, 2006... Investec Asset Management is planning a large marketing campaign to boost the assets of two funds that are run using its four-factor investment process. Following the recent six-year anniversary of the four-factor process, the group hopes to...

IN BRIEF: SLI names head of emerging markets.(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Standard Life Investments has appointed Chris McGoldrick as investment director, global emerging markets. He previously covered Asian and emerging markets with Credit Suisse First Boston, Baillie Gifford and Edinburgh Fund Managers....

TRENDS: Property obsession is cause for concern.
October 2, 2006... British investors' fixation on property will increase further with the introduction of real estate investment trusts next year, despite signs the market could already be fully valued. Britain's love affair with property appears to be...

STRATEGY: Concern shifts from inflation to growth.
October 2, 2006... Fears that global inflation was too high, and that amrican interest rates would rise further, have been replaced by concerns that the deteriorating US economy will slow global growth. Global equity markets are facing an interesting dilemma....

Q&A: Lazard limits risks with cap and diversification.(Interview)
October 2, 2006... Alan Custis, co-manager of the Lazard UK Omega fund, answers questions from Adam Lewis. Q: At launch at the end of February 2005 the UK Omega fund was designed to be more risky and less core than the existing UK Alpha portfolio. In what...

FEATURE: Seeing patterns.
October 2, 2006... Technical analysis is dismissed by its detractors as "voodoo finance" - of no practical use to the serious investor. Can past price movements really be used to accurately predict the future of a stock? Sunil Jagtiani reports. Technical...

What is technical analysis?
October 2, 2006... Technical analysis could be the oldest form of financial analysis in the world, according to Bronwin Wood, a founding board member of the UK's Society of Technical Analysts. "Several centuries ago in the corn markets of England and the...

Three important trends.
October 2, 2006... There are a countless trends, according to Martin Pring, a respected technical analyst. But there were three generally accepted "durations" before the advent of intra-day charts, he says in his book: A Technician's Guide to Day Trading. ...

ANALYSIS: Patient investors will win in Japan.
October 2, 2006... Simon Somerville, manager of Jupiter's Japan Income fund, argues that despite trading scandals, corporate Japan is doing a lot of things right and investors will be rewarded for their patience. It seemed like a good idea at the time. A...

REVIEW: Back to basics on risk management.
October 2, 2006... This guide to managing risk factors in behavioural finance. However, it fails to explain that strict adherence to these principles may not be the best way to achieve investment goals. Peter Stanyer's book could be more aptly named as a...

FOCUS: Multi-manager rise boosts premier.
October 2, 2006... Premier Asset Management has seen its assets under management grow from #300m to #1.4bn over the past three years as investors increasingly turn to funds of funds. Simon Hildrey reports. Expanding a fund range is one thing, but it does...

FoFs: JPM range offers investment freedom.
October 2, 2006... Olivia Mayell, client portfolio manager of the JPM Portfolio fund of funds, says although it is a fettered product, the 100-strong JPM fund range enables her to invest wherever she needs to. Although the JPM Portfolio fund of funds is run...

AFI: Property set for diminishing returns.
October 2, 2006... Property funds are by far the biggest sellers in the most popular sector for investors. But as more and more are launched, some AFI panelists argue that the best returns have already been seen. Figures released last week by the Investment...

Fund Manager's Diary: 18-25 September 2006.
October 2, 2006... Monday A momentous start to the week as Global Special Situations launches today. The traders, systems and back office people have had a busy weekend splitting the Special Situations fund, run by Anthony Bolton, into two and today is the first...

COMMENT: Climate change is no reason to panic.
October 9, 2006... There is a danger that panic over climate change could do more damage than global warming itself. Anxiety over climate change is reaching such high levels that there is a danger of being overwhelmed by a tidal wave of panic. Instead what is...

Argonaut to offer Euro Equity trust.
October 9, 2006... Oliver Russ and Barry Norris of Argonaut Capital Partners are to run a European Equity investment trust, which will be launched on October 23. Based on their existing Argonaut European Income fund, the trust will invest in higher yielding...

Insight to launch retail absolute return fund.
October 9, 2006... Insight Investments is to launch a multi-strategy absolute return fund for the retail market. The fund is based on its existing range of absolute return funds managed for institutional clients. Due to launch in the first quarter of 2007, the...

IN BRIEF: F&C to close Aim Growth fund.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... F&C will close its Aim Growth portfolio, run by Catherine Stanley, on October 31. The fund, launched in September 2001, had just #7.3m in assets under management on August 31. According to F&C, the firm took the decision based on a lack of...

IN BRIEF: Gartmore sale goes through.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Hellman & Friedman, in conjunction with Gartmore's senior fund management and executive team, has completed the acquisition of Gartmore from Nationwide Mutual Insurance. The purchase includes all of Gartmore's British, European, Japanese and...

IN BRIEF: Morley appoints head of dealing.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Morley Fund Management has appointed Mick Chadwick as head of dealing in its stock lending team. Chadwick will manage the five-strong dealing team and will be responsible for the expansion and diversification of its activities. This will...

IN BRIEF: Jupiter recruits sales managers.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Jupiter has appointed Alison Treharne and David Brown as sales managers. Treharne, who has six years' experience in fund sales, joined the firm last week as regional sales manager for the south-west and Midlands. Her most recent role was at...

Threadneedle's Taylor to step down.
October 9, 2006... Michael Taylor, head of UK equities at Threadneedle Investments, will step down from the role at the start of next year. Taylor, who joined the company nearly 12 years ago, will continue to work with Threadneedle as a consultant. Leigh...

First State's Whitten quits Global Resources.
October 9, 2006... David Whitten, manager of the First State Global Resources fund, has stepped down from the #204m portfolio. He hands over to Joanne Warner, who joined the team more than nine years ago. Whitten, who joined First State as head of global...

IN BRIEF: Allianz Bric fund awarded A rating.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Allianz Global Investors has received a Standard & Poor's A rating for its Bric fund. The fund was launched in February and is run by Michael Konstantinov. The portfolio holds about 60 stocks and gives exposure to Brazilian, Russian, Indian...

IN BRIEF: Fidelity appoints chief admin officer.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Fidelity International has appointed Simon Jeffreys as chief administrative officer, in charge of finance, operations and product development. Jeffreys joins from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was global investment manager and real estate...

IN BRIEF: Rathbone holds seminars for IFAs.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Rathbone Investment Managers is hosting a series of seminars aimed at IFAs hoping to increase their share of the high net worth market. The seminars will look at world markets, Rathbone's services for IFAs and the future for trusts and...

MLIM and BlackRock finalise merger.
October 9, 2006... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has completed its merger with BlackRock. The combination of the two companies creates a single entity with more than $1trn (#530bn) in assets under management. Three MLIM employees, including Bob Doll, the...

Barings fund moves towards absolute returns.
October 9, 2006... Jonathan Blake, manager of the $263m (#139m) Barings Global Resources fund, is to focus the portfolio more on achieving absolute rather than relative returns. Blake became manager of the fund in July when he took over from John Payne,...

Royal London launches fixed income fund that can invest in equities.
October 9, 2006... Royal London Asset Management has launched its Strategic Bond Trust, a total return fixed income product that can use equities and derivatives alongside bonds. Launched two weeks ago, the trust uses a mix of strategies more often seen...

IN BRIEF: Petit-Jean to head up BNP equity.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... BNP Paribas has named Francois Petit-Jean as its head of private equity, within its asset management division. He had been responsible for corporate development and new markets within BNP AM, and has joined the alternative, structured and...

IN BRIEF: SLI wins AA rating from S&P.(Brief article)
October 9, 2006... Standard Life Investments has received AA ratings from Standard & Poor's on both its UK Equity Growth and UK Ethical funds, run by Karen Robertson and Lesley Duncan respectively. The company says that eight out of 19 eligible SLI funds now...

Investors braced for Brazil elections.
October 9, 2006... Fund managers are closely watching the run-up to the second round of Brazil's presidential elections, which take place on October 29. The outcome is likely to determine how far Brazil will proceed with its reform process, which will in turn...

Experience gives best returns, says S&P.
October 9, 2006... Fund manager experience is the catalyst for the highest returns in UK Growth, says Standard & Poor's in its latest review of the sector. The review, which was published last week, highlights which funds have moved up and down the...

Climate change will impact almost every market.
October 9, 2006... Climate change is altering the investment landscape. Or, to be more precise, the response to climate change is benefiting some companies and penalising others. Reputations are being enhanced or damaged, regulations are favouring some products...

TRENDS: Due diligence is of growing importance.
October 9, 2006... By opening up new investment opportunities, Ucits III has made it harder to control the balance of assets in a portfolio - and means fund selectors need a more rigorous due diligence process. As a multi-manager we see our job as not only...

STRATEGY: US uncertainty means further volatility.
October 9, 2006... Global equity markets have entered a transition phase. Uncertainty is growing as investors try to assess the extent and pace of the slowdown expected in the American economy into 2007. Events there will drive the fortunes of other...

Q&A: Skandia rounds up top 10 for best ideas fund.(Interview)
October 9, 2006... Alan Durrant, chief investment officer of Skandia Investment Management, speaks to Will Jackson. Q: When does the Skandia UK Best Ideas fund start trading and how is it structured? A: The fund launches on Wednesday October 11. It is...

FEATURE: Shopping around.
October 9, 2006... Companies are finding new ways to raise finance - issuing, for example, asset-backed securities, preference shares or leveraged loans - giving investors increased opportunities to diversify their portfolio. James Teasdale reports. ...

ANALYSIS: Smaller firms produce epic returns.
October 9, 2006... Simon Shaw, manager of EEA Fund Management's EPIC Insurance & General trust, is happy to go against the grain by holding mid and small-cap financials, despite a trend towards mega-caps. It is not one of those fund management companies...

CHANNELS: AWD keeps focus on multi-manager funds.
October 9, 2006... Graham Hooper, marketing director of AWD Chase de Vere, answers questions from Simon Hildrey. Q: What effect has the acquisition by AWD had on Chase de Vere? A: Through the acquisition AWD has brought resources, financial strength,...

FOCUS: Invesco receives #5bn assets boost.
October 9, 2006... In little over a year, Invesco Perpetual's assets under management have rocketed by #5bn - much of which has gone into Neil Woodford's Income and High Income funds. Adam Lewis reports. In the 13 months since Fund Strategy last profiled...

AFI: Europe's problems are short term.
October 9, 2006... The last Adviser Fund Index rebalancing showed an increased weighting to European equities across the three indices: Aggressive, Balanced and Cautious. The Aggressive index saw the highest increase, at 2%, while the Cautious and Balanced...

FoFs: Brown Shipley revamps Solus team.
October 9, 2006... The team running Brown Shipley's Solus Multimanager range has changed since Fund Strategy profiled the Growth fund in March 2005. Michael Clarkson is now senior manager on the three portfolios, after taking over from Kevin Doran, the firm's...

Fund Manager's Diary: 27 September to 3 October 2006.
October 9, 2006... Wednesday I finish writing-up my views on the precious metals market and Impala Platinum in South Africa and start reviewing potential buy ideas - Asian airlines and ports are screening up as good value, as are financials and industrials in...

COMMENT: Benchmarks do have a role to play.
October 16, 2006... Whether investors should be for or against the use of benchmarks, such as stockmarket indices, is the wrong way to pitch the question. The key criterion for success is whether such measures help investors on the path towards their ultimate...

Old Mutual shifts two funds over to quants team.
October 16, 2006... Old Mutual Asset Management has moved the active management of its #24m US Select Equity and #40m UK Select Large Cap funds over to its quantitative strategies team. The group has also made manager changes on its Asian Select,...

Invesco plans open-ended absolute return fund.
October 16, 2006... Invesco Perpetual is planning to launch an open-ended version of its #50m European Absolute Return investment trust. The group already runs a similar Luxembourg-domiciled Sicav and Michael Joynson, product director at Invesco, says an...

IN BRIEF: Investec adds to fixed income team.(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... Investec Asset Management has appointed Ian Frost as global fixed income portfolio manager. Based in London, he will report to John Stopford, head of fixed income. Frost joins from Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, where he worked for seven...

IN BRIEF: Morley appoints property manager.(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... Morley has appointed Paul van de Vaart as its first dedicated property securities fund manager. He joins as real estate securities fund manager from ABP, a pension fund, where he was responsible for E4.5bn (#3bn). Van de Vaart will manage the...

Discovery picks North as investment adviser.
October 16, 2006... John Husselbee's North Investment Partners has been selected as investment adviser on the Discovery Managed Growth fund, to be launched next week. The fund will be the second sub-fund to be added to the Discovery Fund Oeic, which is run...

JPM trust to roll over into new fund.
October 16, 2006... The board of the #220m JPMorgan Fleming Income & Growth split-capital investment trust has announced plans to roll over the trust into a new split-cap. The trust is set to wind up on December 26 and, following a shareholder review, the...

HSBC appoints new managers for UK portfolios.
October 16, 2006... HSBC Investments has appointed new managers to run its #1.1bn UK Growth & Income and #125m UK Freestyle funds, following the departure of Bob Morris. Angus Parker, head of the European equity team at Halbis, HSBC's specialist high alpha...

IN BRIEF: Property fund hits high in first year.(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... Standard Life Investment's Select Property fund has grown to #780m in the first year of its launch. The fund has far outgrown its sales target of #350m, becoming one of the fastest-growing retail funds in Britain over that period. It offers...

HSBC launches capital secured growth funds.
October 16, 2006... HSBC Bank International has launched four new capital secured growth funds. Each fund is designed to protect investors' capital, if held until maturity, while offering potential for growth. Through these funds investors can access...

Tax regime stymies UK, study finds.
October 16, 2006... The UK's tax regime has caused Britain to lose out to Luxembourg and Dublin, according to a report commissioned by the Investment Management Association. The report, written by KPMG, says the British tax system is over- complicated and...

Target maturity funds set to increase in Britain.
October 16, 2006... Andy Clark, a senior research analyst at Lipper, predicts target maturity funds will become increasingly prominent in Britain, following their sharp rise in popularity among American investors. Target maturity funds are goal-orientated...

IN BRIEF: BlackRock hires equities director.(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... BlackRock has appointed James Bristow as a director in its global equities team. Bristow will be responsible for running focused, global portfolios and joins the firm from JP Morgan Investment Management, where he managed a range of funds for...

IN BRIEF: Swip hires director for Japan team.(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... The Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has appointed Kaori Ishii as investment director of its Japanese equities team. Ishii, who joins this week, will be responsible for the Swip Japanese Smaller Companies fund. She will report...

Brown Shipley changes manager on Solus fund.
October 16, 2006... Brown Shipley is changing the lead manager on its #45m Solus UK Flagship fund. John Smith, who heads the equity research team of Kredietbank Luxembourg, Brown Shipley's parent company, will take over the portfolio next week. The fund's...

FSA to increase unit pricing flexibility.
October 16, 2006... The Financial Services Authority has confirmed in a policy statement that it will allow fund managers more flexibility in choosing single or dual pricing of units in collective investment schemes. The move follows the publication of...

US investment trust aims for LSE listing.
October 16, 2006... Thomas H Lee Capital Management, an American fund group, has announced its intention to list Lee Diversified Opportunities on the London Stock Exchange by the end of the year. The investment trust will hold at least 45 international hedge...

IN BRIEF: Clarification.(Correction notice)(Brief article)
October 16, 2006... In last week's Fund Strategy (October 9, page 6) a headline read "First State's Whitten quits Global Resources". Fund Strategy would like to make it clear that Whitten is only stepping down from his role as manager of the #204m Global...

Markets perform well despite fears of a US slowdown.
October 16, 2006... The stockmarkets of most developed countries have performed solidly so far this year. On a total return basis, the FTSE All-Share index was up 10.9% and the S&P 500 index rose by 9.7%, in local currency terms, from January 2 to October 10,...

STRATEGY: Moderate slowdown is most likely.
October 16, 2006... The tightening of global monetary policy over the past couple of years should lead to a global economic slowdown lasting well into next year. However, things are set to pick up again in 2008. The global economy remains buoyant as we enter...