Investment Adviser articles from August 2005

Investment Adviser archives from August 2005

Axa funds to gain from Framlington.
August 1, 2005... Axa has said there will be no fund manager departures in the immediate aftermath of its Framlington takeover. Chief executive Paul Griffiths said the acquisition, which creates the Axa Framlington brand, would have tactical benefits as...

UK to get Templeton fund.
August 1, 2005... Franklin Templeton is to open its Mutual Discovery fund to UK investors. The fund is a global version of the AGBP31m US distressed debt and arbitrage vehicle Mutual Shares, which is already available in the UK. A source said that...

Henderson set for new bond fund.
August 1, 2005... Henderson is aiming to offer a corporate bond product after bulking up its fixed income team. While Graham Kitchen's arrival from Threadneedle has stolen the headlines, Hender-son has been adding to its fixed income desk. David Jacob...

Japanese equities lifted by domestic investors.
August 1, 2005... The ongoing restructuring of corporate Japan along with the convergence of equity and bond yields is attracting domestic investors. David Mitchinson, fund manager for the AGBP170.5m JPM Japan fund and joint manager for JPMorgan Fleming...

Bonds in boom despite strong equity markets.
August 1, 2005... Bonds sales outstripped equities four out of six months this year, despite strong equity markets for much of 2005. IMA data shows January and February saw net equity sales ahead of fixed income. But in the following months to the end of...

Value proves to be style play of the year.
August 1, 2005... Style will continue to be an important part in constructing a portfolio, according to Standard Life Investments. Value managed to outperform growth over the first six months of 2005, according to SLI research of the performance of 36...

Staff shakeout rolls on after DWS acquisition.
August 1, 2005... Job losses continue at DWS and Aberdeen as the aquisition progresses. Steve Illot, current head of the DeAM fixed income team has been named as the new head of the Aberdeen fixed income group, according to sources close to both companies....

Action group in tiff with VCTs boards.
August 1, 2005... The boards of the Murray VCTs have accused the Murray VCT 123 Action Group, trying to dispose of its directors, of lacking independence. The boards claim Charles Clark, who is leading the campaign, has been discredited by his admission...

Omam rolls out protected multi-manager hedge fund.
August 1, 2005... Old Mutual Asset Managers is to launch a capital protected fund investing in managed hedge fund accounts. The plan, called Old Mutual Prosper 80, will target returns of 4 per cent above the Bank of England base rate, net of charges. It is...

Extra income fund for Marlborough.
August 8, 2005... Marlborough is to launch a high-income fund into the retail market with a target yield near 6 per cent. The fund will be called Marlborough Extra Income and will launch in the middle of next month. It will be managed by Mark Whittaker,...

Fantasy beats the reality.
August 8, 2005... Competitors in Invest-ment Adviser's Fantasy Portfolio Challenge have humbled their professional fund manager counterparts. The top 20 managers in each section -- managed, cautious, SRI and aggressive -- averaged a return of 19.5 per cent,...

MLC set to develop IFA network.
August 8, 2005... Multi-manager MLC may develop an IFA network as part of its long-term UK strategy. The company, which runs IFA consultancy Pivotal in addition to its six-strong risk-rated portfolio service and tax wrapper offerings, operates an IFA...

Investing on country level best for investors.
August 8, 2005... Playing Europe at the country level may benefit investors, according to John Ross, senior strategist at Fidelity. This is because political hot potatoes such as the "no" votes in France and the Netherlands to the proposed EU constitution...

Wave of property funds to hit the UK shores.
August 8, 2005... Noble Fund Managers is set to release a wave of property funds into the UK market after hiring a specialist team from property investment company Arlington. Noble will launch the first of three or four syndicated property funds within...

Artemis fund manager opts for high yield debt.
August 8, 2005... James Foster of Artemis has invested heavily in high yield debt since setting up his AGBP14m Strategic Bond fund in April. He said: "We have moved a high percentage of the fund into high yield, as we think investment grade has done well for...

UK and US interest rate policies to remain apart.
August 8, 2005... Fund managers believe that interest rate policy in the US and UK will stay separate for some time to come. Rod Davidson, head of fixed interest at Aberdeen, said although there had been correlation between the two in the past, all economies...

Threadneedle starts a fund manager revolution.
August 8, 2005... Threadneedle has acted to restructure its UK equity desk in the aftermath of Graham Kitchen's shock departure. The restructure sees former head of equities Michael Taylor become head of UK equities. He has moved to streamline the desk and...

JPMam teams up with 1st.
August 8, 2005... JPMorgan has teamed up with IFA software provider 1st as part of a nationwide educational programme. JPMorgan Invest, a company launched by JPMorgan Asset Management, has been set up to provide workplace-based advice to those planning...

Pioneer UK move is put on hold.
August 15, 2005... Pioneer Investments has pulled plans to bring its offshore funds into the UK. US mutual fund giant Pioneer had tried to open its EU-compatible FCP structure to the UK through applying for distributable status. However, tight UK tax and...

Norwich Union considers augmenting MoM range.
August 15, 2005... Norwich Union may extend the scope of its manager of managers range by introducing new assets and regional portfolios. The four-strong range was launched in May with Cautious, Growth, Income and Balanced portfolios. James Pearson, fund...

Dumb money effect is leading to low returns.
August 15, 2005... "retail investors direct their money to funds which invest in stocks that have low future returns." This was the finding of a US National Bureau of Economic Research paper last week, focusing on stock performance in equity markets and how...

Marlborough funds merge.
August 15, 2005... Marlborough is to merge its AGBP3.9m Active Managed multi-manager fund with the AGBP3.8m International Equity fund of funds. The Bolton-based fund manager is awaiting FSA approval for the move, likely to come next month, which will cut...

Martin Currie poaches Morley equity manager.
August 15, 2005... Martin Currie has poached Morley's UK equity income manager as it looks to re-juvenated its ailing sector offering. Scott McKenzie, manager of the AGBP228m Norwich Union UK Equity Income fund, will join the Edinburgh-based asset manager in...

Fund groups should promote trusts more.
August 15, 2005... The Association of Investment Trusts Companies has said that asset managers should assume the main responsibility for the promotion of investment trusts. Daniel Godfrey, director general for the AITC, agreed that demand needed to be...

Action group forces Close to consider VCT position.
August 15, 2005... Close Venture Manage-ment, which runs the Murray VCTs, has threatened it will no longer run the trusts if the action group succeeds in ousting the directors. The boards of the VCTs have been forced by the Murray VCT123 Action Group to call...

Framlington trio gets full adviser support.
August 15, 2005... Adviser networks have thrown unconditional support behind Framlington's lead managers after the company's takeover by Axa Investment Managers. Adam Carruthers, investment manager at Origen adviser network, said both discretionary and...

Henderson shakes up UK equity team.
August 15, 2005... Henderson is reorganising its UK thematic desk as it prepares to shake up stock selection across its funds. The company will make several changes to the way it runs its UK thematic desk, whose remit will be broadened to consider European as...

Fidelity plans three track market push.
August 22, 2005... Fidelity has outlined a three-track strategy into the next year. This will comprise promotion of its multi-manager and fixed income ranges, alongside its FundsNetwork supermarket. The fund giant aims to bring multi-manager and bond...

Horizon wary of hedges.
August 22, 2005... Asset manager Horizon Financial Services is advising investment trusts to follow its lead in reducing exposure to hedge funds. Jersey-based Horizon, which runs fund of fund portfolios, claims hedge fund managers will create problems for...

Warning to savers over IHT limits.
August 22, 2005... Investors that saved into a Pep from launch may be hit by a AGBP97,000 inheritance tax bill. Research by IFA Bates Investment Services discovered that if investors put the maximum allowable into Peps and then Isas since 1987, the value of...

Inflation fails to threaten managers.
August 22, 2005... Fund managers and economists have advised investors to suspend judgment on the markets in the wake of last week's inflation announcement. The annual rate of inflation for July rose to 2.3 per cent from June's 2 per cent, with consensus...

Framlington merges three funds in streamlining bid.
August 22, 2005... Framlington is to carry out the next part of its streamlining programme with the merger of three funds. The AGBP18m New Leaders and AGBP30m Managed Portfolio funds will be merged into the AGBP46.6m Managed Growth fund. Managed Growth is run...

Managers play down effects of oil price rises.
August 22, 2005... Oil price hikes are far less harmful to the global economy than they once were, according to asset managers. New Star economist Simon Ward pointed to the six-fold increase in prices from the low reached in 1999, but distanced this from the...

Accumulator seeks low risk returns from zeros.
August 22, 2005... Investec Asset Management is aiming to extend its expertise in managing zero investments with its new trust. The Investec Capital Accumulator trust will launch in September and will not be limited to being a rollover vehicle for the...

MLIM Absolute Alpha is nearly 90 per cent invested.
August 22, 2005... Merrill Lynch's UK Absolute Alpha fund is almost 90 per cent invested since launch three months ago. The fund, which is up 5 per cent since launch (bid-to-bid, to 15 August, according to S&P), has taken in AGBP18m on top of AGBP5m internal...

F&C fund gets Philbin's money.
August 22, 2005... F&C's Growth & Income fund has increased in size to nearly AGBP20m following a change-over in manager. Last month, Citywire AAA-rated Ted Scott took over the AGBP14.6m Growth & Income fund after the departure of previous manager Michael...

FSA warns about misleading VCTs.
August 29, 2005... The FSA has snapped at some VCT fund management companies over possible misleading marketing material. The FSA has warned "a number" of venture capital trust houses over the promotion of their trusts after conducting a review of the...

Invesco soft closures likely.
August 29, 2005... Soft closures may be on the drawing board for Invesco Perpetual's AGBP113m UK Aggressive and Majedie's AGBP84m UK Opportunities funds. Both asset managers have said such action would be enforced if and when the funds became too large to...

Felton halts legal claim against F&C.
August 29, 2005... Mike Felton, manager of M&G's AGBP166.1m UK Capital fund has withdrawn his legal claim against former employers, F&C Asset Management. Mr Felton left the newly merged F&C in October 2004 on acrimonious terms, before the management houses...

Economy hit by lack of investment.
August 29, 2005... The lack of business investment along with the consumer pullback is slowing the economy at a greater rate than originally predicted. Joining the Bank of England's recent modest prediction of 2 per cent growth, the CBI has now cut its...

Fund charges debate set to continue says research.
August 29, 2005... The debate over fund charges and their presentation to investors is likely to continue until 2008, new research reveals. An in-depth feature, given to next month's Money Management -- IAs sister publication -- highlights the flaws in...

Henderson expects more growth from new hires.
August 29, 2005... Henderson says recent fund manager appointments will spark further growth on its retail side despite a level of inconsistency in performance. Over the year Henderson has acted to bulk up some of its poor performers with recent additions to...

Reits stalemate fears allayed by Treasury.
August 29, 2005... The Treasury has sought to assuage industry fears that draft legislation for real estate investment trusts would not be ready for the 2006 Finance Bill. A government consultation with the property industry and asset managers over the...

Mixed opinion on whether Google's shares are a buy.
August 29, 2005... Fund managers are sharply divided on whether or not Google shares are a buy. Two weeks ago, the web search engine provider announced a US$4bn (AGBP2.2bn) rights issue. The share price fell slightly, but is now trading at around AGBP155....

Insight sells DWS.
August 29, 2005... Insight multi-manager is selling out of DWS' AGBP57m UK Opportunities fund amid fears its manager may resign. Insight had a AGBP20m position in the fund, reduced to AGBP16m last week. Patrick Armstrong, Insight head of fund of funds, said...