Investment Adviser articles from December 2005

Investment Adviser archives from December 2005

Christows sets up Aim vehicle as high net worth tax shelter.
December 5, 2005... A new portfolio service from Christows will invest in Alternative Investment Market shares as a shelter from capital gains, income and inheritance tax. Mark Northover, investment director for Christows, will manage the service. It...

Platinum launches Dublin-based investment fund.
December 5, 2005... Edinburgh-based Platinum Fund Manager is to launch a open-ended fund in the new year. The fund, which will be registered in Dublin, will be called the Platinum Investment fund. It will have both institutional and retail share classes...

Marlborough looks to Eiris for ethical direction.
December 5, 2005... Marlborough's new ethical fund will take its cue from the Ethical Investment Research Services' list of public companies' practices. The fund's management has been outsourced to Bob Brown, founder of RC Brown Investment Management. Mr...

Barclays notes on Japan.
December 5, 2005... Barclays Capital is launching a quartet of structured notes with exposure to Japanese equities and commodities. The investment bank's GBP Topix Accelerator notes both have five-year terms and offer 185 per cent of any rise in the Japanese...

New Star manager backs off mid caps.
December 5, 2005... New Star's Special Situations manager is looking to large and small caps for continued growth, believing the mid-cap rally has run its course during 2005. James Ridgewell, manager of the go-anywhere AGBP23.8m New Star Special Situations...

Pima welcomes Turner proposals.
December 5, 2005... The Pep and Isa Manager's Association has welcomed Adair Turner's conclusions, stating that they will boost consumer saving. According to the trade body, the Report has opened the door to more flexibility for investors, and will lead to...

Low cost pension funds a case of repeating mistakes.
December 5, 2005... Talk of a pension system based on fund charges of just 0.3 per cent is re-trampling on already well-trodden ground, Christows and Scottish Life have claimed. Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at stockbroker and investment manager Christows,...

Citigroup joins the Legg Mason family.
December 5, 2005... Legg Mason is to merge Citigroup Asset Management's fixed interest funds into its existing range in 2006. In a AGBP288.47m cash deal, together with share issues, preferred stock and a transfer of LM's non-asset management business,...

Secretary holds onto AGBP7.6m CTF interest.
December 5, 2005... The Treasury has called its own economic secretary to task over AGBP7.6m in interest earned in unclaimed CTF vouchers. Last week, Ivan Lewis, MP and economic secretary of HM Treasury, admitted before the Treasury Select Committee to sitting...

Children's Mutual does Shariah CTF.
December 5, 2005... The Children's Mutual has launched the UK's first Shariah compliant child trust fund. The Shariah Baby bond is a stakeholder account that is targeting 100,000 Muslim families within the UK because it complies with their religious beliefs. ...

Aberdeen to expand its global fund range.
December 5, 2005... UK investors will have access for the first time to a dozen funds in Aberdeen's Global range following consolidation of its Dublin and Luxembourg funds. Aberdeen is planning to transfer nine funds domiciled in Dublin, which are already...

NS&I excluded from being a child trust fund provider.
December 5, 2005... The NS&I has not been included as a child trust fund provider because of its remit of not allowing relatively riskier equity products when saving for children. The Treasury Select Committee members questioned the CTF scheme's requirement...

UBS manager goes underweight in oil.
December 5, 2005... Oil is a big, black bubble which is about to burst, and is forecast to be down at $28 per barrel by the end of 2009. This is the contrarian view of UBS's AGBP144.7m US Equity fund manager Tom Digenan. Even though the projection is over...

Schroder property targets global Reits.
December 5, 2005... The new Schroder Global Property Securities fund will tap into the growth of real estate investment trusts. It is to be launched in conjunction with US-based property securities manager European Investors to exploit the global Reit and...

Tough times ahead for active managed.
December 5, 2005... Actively managed funds will struggle to outperform in the future, claims Christows. Dan Kemp, head of multi-manager at the stockbroking and fund management company, said that exchange traded funds were becoming the best way to access...

Axa sniffing for return of growth strategy in 2006.
December 5, 2005... Axa's multi-manager team has begun monitoring markets in expectation of a shift to growth investment next year. According to head of multi-manager Simon Ellis, this change is on the cards after a six month period of stability in markets and...

performance.
December 5, 2005... CF Berkeley International Growth fund As the most volatile fund in Trustnet's UK sector, the small CF Berkeley International Growth fund is ranked second out of 26 funds in the sector. The AGBP7.59m fund, launched just over three years...

Buy & sell.
December 5, 2005... 1. jupiter fund of investment trusts No comment Manager Laurie Petar would not comment on any changes made to asset allocation 2. CF Berkeley International Growth & Value fund Jupiter Japan Income fund CF manager Brian...

DWS mergers confirmed.
December 5, 2005... Aberdeen has confirmed that its fund mergers with DWS will go ahead as planned next week. The first five fund mergers were approved by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting last week, and will come into effect on 15 December....

Newton looks to high street for bargains.
December 5, 2005... Troubled UK retailers are starting to reap dividends for Newton's flagship AGBP2.7bn Higher Income fund. Fund manager Tineke Frikkee said that unlike other fund managers, she believed now was not the time to steer clear of all UK retailers....

Walker Crips opts for financials not oil.
December 5, 2005... The CF Walker Crips UK Growth fund managers have been busy investing AGBP22m of new inflows over the past month in favoured telecoms and financials. Manager Stephen Bailey said the fund had seen good support from a number of advisers and...

Action on periphery.
December 5, 2005... Greece is the word for European fund managers at New Star and Baring Asset Management. Managers James Buckley, manager of the AGBP104.4m Baring European Growth trust and Richard Lewis, manager of New Star's AGBP11.2m European Leaders fund,...

Yield differentials bolster M&A activity, says Beagles.
December 5, 2005... The recent rise in M&A activity has been bolstered by the differential between corporate bond yields and earnings yields of UK equities. According to the JO Hambro Capital Management UK Equity Income fund fact sheet, corporate bond yields...

Premier espouses alcohol for the kids.
December 5, 2005... Premier Cru Fine Wine Investments has launched an investment starter kit for those wishing to hold alternative investments for their children. Called the Life Starter Kit, the investment will be held under the adult's control until the...

Threadneedle sees value in Europe despite slow growth.
December 5, 2005... Moderate inflation and interest rate increases with slowing growth for 2006 is not all bad news for pan-European equities, claimed Threadneedle. William Davies, manager on Threadneedle's European desk said that these market forces were...

Lincoln shifts Far East view.
December 5, 2005... A slowing economy and high dollar valuation relative to sterling has caused Lincoln to reduce its exposure to Australian holdings. Elizabeth Desmond, manager of the value-orientated AGBP341m Lincoln Far East fund, said it was time to look...

Specialist funds are in top spot for sales.
December 5, 2005... Retail investors are following their institutional counterparts and buying into specialist funds. According to the latest figures from the Investment Management Association, specialist funds were the top sellers in October among retail...

UK small caps cap profits.
December 5, 2005... Nigel Thomas, manager of the AGBP603.4m Framlington UK Select Opportunities fund, has blamed his poor recent performance on its exposure to UK-centric small caps. Over this period, the fund has returned 98.9 per cent compared with the...

VCTs brace for consolidation.
December 5, 2005... The venture capital trust market is tipped to shrink in 2006, with fewer being launching and others beginning to consolidate. Martin Churchill, editor for specialist research publication Tax Efficient Review, said: "Consolidation is...

Martin Currie aims to boost Income fund.
December 5, 2005... Martin Currie is firing on all cylinders to promote its AGBP31.1m UK Equity Income fund during 2006. The company has stated its intention to raise AGBP100m in assets under management by the summer of 2006. The fund, which was taken...

Maturity is key for new investments.
December 5, 2005... The lack of viable opportunities for VCT managers may drive more investors towards mature funds instead of newly launched VCTs, Noble Fund Managers has claimed. The possibility that the 40 per cent tax break may be scaled back to 20 per...

Tougher times ahead as trust performance slips.
December 5, 2005... Trading conditions for venture capital trust companies may be getting tougher, Baronsmead has claimed. Gillian Nott, chairman for the AGBP39.82m Baronsmead VCT, said: "For the first time in two years the latest trend is slightly downwards,...

JPM goes non-cyclical.
December 5, 2005... Non-cyclical investments have been credited with the success of the AGBP95.2m JPMorgan US Discovery investment trust. The fund has produced positive returns in a difficult market since the October sell-off in the US. The fund, which is...

Henderson draws Pacific trust restructure to a close.
December 5, 2005... Andrew Beal, manager of the AGBP182.18m Henderson TR Pacific investment trust, has completed the fund's restructure since taking it on in August. Mr Beal said although he would continue to focus on bottom-up stockpicking, he had been...

Aberdeen rolls out Asia Income trust.
December 5, 2005... Aberdeen Asset Management Asia has launched the Aberdeen Asian Income Trust fund. Singapore-based Hugh Young, managing director of AAM Asia, will head the trust management team. The trust will be conventionally structured with one share...

Suffolk to ban exotic investments.
December 5, 2005... Suffolk Life has revealed that it will ban all exotic investment from its Sipp products after A-Day. The pensions provider is concerned about insufficient regulation before the FSA takes over monitoring of personal pensions in April 2007....

Widows launches retirement account.
December 5, 2005... Scottish Widows has unveiled its retirement account in advance of A-Day. The account, which will be targeted at IFAs, will accommodate equities and both residential and overseas property. The Scottish Widows Retirement Account will...

Assetz plans to roll out 10 property funds in 2006.
December 5, 2005... Specialist real estate investment company Assetz has announced plans to launch a range of 10 property funds by the end of next year. Launches this year will include UK residential and commercial vehicles with five-year terms. Next year will...

Japan dances to different tune as companies heed investors.
December 5, 2005... Japanese companies have entered a new era in investor relations and are now listening to their investors, according to Michael Lindsell. The manager of the AGBP8.53m Close Finsbury Japanese Equity fund, and founder of investment boutique...

Potter unwinds US underweight stance.
December 5, 2005... Shifting investment focus to the US will be a key story for 2006, the multi-manager team at Credit Suisse Asset Management has claimed. The team has just returned from a transatlantic trip to review its US holdings and head of multi-manager...

Henderson takes flak for UK Capital failure.
December 5, 2005... Despite beefing up its capital research team, Henderson Global Investors is still seeing lacklustre performance from its UK Capital Growth. The AGBP141.7m fund was initially placed under review in October 2004 by ratings agency Standard &...

FSA to face Treasury over rules.
December 5, 2005... The FSA will face the Treasury Select Committee this month over European fund management regulation. The Treasury said it would investigate such topics and development of better regulation principles and the role of the European Parliament...

UK looks to lifestyling.
December 5, 2005... Lifestyle funds will be become a significant part of the pensions market, Fidelity International has claimed, following their mention in the Turner Report. Last week, Adair Turner, Pensions Commissions chairman suggested such funds could...

Commercial property still good for reducing volatility.
December 5, 2005... Commercial property is still suitable as a low volatility portfolio diversifier, claimed Prudential Property Investment Managers. Pru Pim, which manages the AGBP400m M&G Property Portfolio, said that even compared with gilts, commercial...

F&C to add three funds to its arsenal.
December 5, 2005... F&C's planned UK Opportunities fund launch for former DWS manager Phil Doel will be joined by two more funds. Next year, the F&C UK Equity team, five members of which were hired from DWS after being made redundant, will launch its trio of...

Scot Eq bond targets cautious investors.
December 5, 2005... Scottish Equitable has launched an onshore bond with up to 7 per cent extra allocation. The company, which is targeting the bond at cautious investors, is also hoping to expand the range in the first quarter of next year. Head of sales for...

Fidelity bulks IFA services.
December 5, 2005... Fidelity is beefing up its FundsNetwork and other IFA services in a bid to bring more advisers on board. FundsNetwork is doubling its IFA-facing sales teams from six to 12, citing increasing IFA interest in using fund platforms as the...

Is this the end of traditional journalism?
December 5, 2005... Anyone familiar with the BBC's website, which -- to UK digerati at least -- is state-of-the-art, will be familiar with the "listen again" function whereby radio programmes, for example, can be effortlessly accessed up to a week after initial...

There's shelter yet in them there hills.
December 5, 2005... The UK housing market has been the "dog that did not bark" in the current economic cycle. I confess to being one of those who expected the market to crash at some stage. Bubbles usually do. But so far, the market seems to have landed safely...

An ethical fund manager has to be a bit more flexible and think a bit more laterally than a mainstream manager would.
December 5, 2005... Investment Adviser: The commodities boom has placed many ethical funds at a disadvantage. Can an ethical fund match returns in such an environment? Ted Scott: It is very difficult. We have got a couple of commodity stocks we can invest in but...

Digenan does the Bartman.
December 5, 2005... Tom Digenan, UBS's home-loving US Equity fund manager, was on a whistlestop tour of the UK. To start with he did a bit of sanctions busting as he chowed-down on one of Castro's finest exports -- a 10-inch Cuban cigar. Next morning he was...

Gold price rise to continue unabated.
December 5, 2005... The gold price will hover around the US$500 an ounce mark before continuing its climb skyward, Merrill Lynch's commodities expert Dr Graham Birch has claimed. Mr Birch, manager of the AGBP470m Merrill Lynch Gold & General Fund, said the...

CSAM gets in a violent mood.
December 5, 2005... Diary was lucky enough to be invited to the Credit Suisse Asset Management Christmas party. Now the aim of the night was alcohol and violence, but violence first (in the form of sumo wrestling, bucking broncos and guns) then the alcohol. The...

Building blocks of the Swip future.
December 5, 2005... Scottish Widows have been sending people foam bricks. These are a great bit of kit and we have had endless fun throwing foam bricks at colleague's heads to provoke a reaction. That was until someone replaced said foam brick with a real one....

Time to put on your giving hat.
December 5, 2005... And a reminder: there are now only 14 days left for you -- our loved and cherished readers -- to send us AGBP1500 for the Disasters Emergency Committee or else Diary and the rest of the IA team will be getting its kit off and posing for a...

Selling like hot cakes.
December 5, 2005... The whole aim of investing is to gain income either in the short or long term. Whether you invest in stocks or place your investments in a managed fund, the objective is to increase your income or have an income at a later date. Income is...

Schroder manager makes the switch.
December 5, 2005... When Dennis Clough, the former manager of the Schroder Tokyo fund announced he was going on a sabbatical in Spring 2004 this raised a few eyebrows. We were a bit sceptical at first that he would actually return. Second, he stated at the outset...

Europe provides rich pickings from high dividend yields.
December 5, 2005... While equity markets have reached their highest level since 2001, dividend yields have remained stable since the beginning of the year. Overall, European markets tend to generate some of the highest dividend yields among developed countries. As...

Getting the correct retirement risk balance.
December 5, 2005... As investors approach and enter retirement, their financial needs and objectives generally change markedly, moving away from their earlier focus on building up capital. Income levels and a degree of capital stability along with preservation...

Be prepared for a bumpy ride in 2006.
December 5, 2005... The hard arithmetic of fixed-income securities means that sterling corporate bonds are unlikely to generate stellar returns in 2006. The combination of low gilt yields and relatively narrow credit spreads means that the prospects for...

It's all in the blend.
December 5, 2005... Getting a reasonable income out of your capital is no easy task these days, particularly if you want to protect that capital at the same time. Bond yields are low and many higher yielding equities either have limited growth prospects or are...

Big Wednesday set to fuel price surge.
December 5, 2005... Old Mutual is forecasting a year-end blitz and boom for the fixed interest market. Stephen Snowden, manager of the AGBP401.7m Old Mutual Corporate Bond fund, said this Wednesday -- the single biggest coupon payment date of 2005 -- would...

The China syndrome.
December 5, 2005... Since the late 1970s inflation has been on a downward trend, driven first by specific anti-inflationary monetary policies, then by the freeing up of labour markets and reduction in trade union collective bargaining power, and most recently by...

Cycle of change.
December 5, 2005... Is the UK on the verge of a dividend bubble? The spectacular performance of high-yielding stocks has led many people to wonder whether the boom times for income investors might be about to end. While no one can predict whether growth stocks...

Reading between the lines.
December 5, 2005... Good investment management requires a sound buy and sell discipline. An approach that puts the emphasis on growing the income of the portfolio from a reasonable initial yield provides these disciplines. The income-orientated investor will...

sector comment.
December 5, 2005... fund selection by Ashutosh Kumar A couple of years ago, the head of research for Hargreaves Lansdown and Investment Adviser columnist, Mark Dampier, made an interesting comment that still rings in my ears. He said: "One sector where...

North America sector - Shining despite adversity.
December 5, 2005... So what is happening with the US? Is it a divided, alienated society, governed by an increasingly tired and worried looking lame-duck president, or is it still the planet's only economic powerhouse driving the world forward into a new era of...

Separating the wheat from the chaff.
December 5, 2005... Quite simply, funds in the IMA North America sector must invest at least 80 per cent of their assets in North American equities. Unfortunately, this is not as straightforward as it seems, as this is not an easy sector to select funds,...

Playing the right investment game.
December 5, 2005... When picking among top performers there are really only three important questions to be answered for each fund: lWhat is the manager's favourite investment game? lIs it the right game to play? lWas he skillful or did he just get...

Strength of US industrial cycle underpins earnings.
December 5, 2005... Purchasing manager surveys from around the world will confirm the strength of the US industrial cycle, claimed Chris Iggo, senior strategist at Axa IM. A report last week showed that orders in the US had risen by 3.4 per cent in October....

Gibbons launches rare stamp fund.
December 5, 2005... The Stanley Gibbons Rare Stamp Investment fund has been launched to attract high net-worth investors ahead of A-Day. The fund aims to achieve a minimum annualised return of 10 per cent. Paul Fraser, chairman of stamp specialist The...

Thames River looks to poach new team.
December 5, 2005... Thames River is expected to hit the mainstream with the possible launch of a long-only UK equity fund next year. The company said the fund would be available to retail investors through the company's Dublin umbrella fund range. However,...

BBB hit by trading losses.
December 5, 2005... Troubled financial services broker Berkeley Berry Birch has suspended its shares from exchange trading after a series of regulatory and financial set-backs. According to last week's announcement by the company, it is struggling against...

Taking a long-term approach to quality investments.
December 5, 2005... Where many funds in the North American sector failed to beat market returns, the AGBP74.39m Baillie Gifford American fund succeeded in besting its benchmark over the past three years. Sticking to its mantra of quality mid and small cap...