Investment Adviser articles from July 2005

Investment Adviser archives from July 2005

Most claimants will miss splits deadline.
July 4, 2005... the company set up to dispense split cap compensation will not extend its July deadline. This is despite the assertion from advisers that confusion is hampering submitted claims. Investors who believe they lost AGBP250 or more have...

Unicorn set for expansion.
July 4, 2005... Unicorn Asset Management plans to expand its business by hiring two new fund managers and bringing marketing in-house. The boutique fund manager has built assets under management to AGBP500m since launching its first retail funds in 2001....

VCTs report could halt tax status.
July 4, 2005... A government report into the venture capital trust industry could see the end of the products' unique tax status. The report, commissioned from a prominent private equity research company, aims to determine whether VCTs are fulfiling their...

Groups prepare for surge in Shell.
July 4, 2005... FUND management groups have begun preparations for Shell's dominance of the FTSE. On 20 July, Netherlands listed Royal Dutch shares will join Shell Transport and Trading securities on the London Stock Exchange. According to Axa IM,...

Hemisphere arrives in the UK.
July 4, 2005... The Bermuda-based AGBP2.24m Hemisphere Property fund has been introduced to the UK intermediary market. The offshore mutual fund invests in European properties for redevelopment and refurbishment. It was launched two years ago and...

Meltdown predicted over rising oil prices.
July 4, 2005... The rising oil price is raising the spectre of an economic meltdown of a scale last seen in the late-1960s to mid-1970s, according to Collins Stewart. Jim Goodey, manager of the asset manager's AGBP38m Total Return Bond fund, quoted the...

Wise moves to launch income fund of funds.
July 4, 2005... Wise Investments is to launch a multi-manager income fund by the end of the summer, creating a three-strong asset allocator Oeic range. The investment manager believes it can raise more than AGBP5m before a planned launch in the autumn. ...

Final furlong of Fantasy Portfolio Challenge chase.
July 4, 2005... The final furlong of the Fantasy Portfolio Challenge looks to be a neck-and-neck finish. Investment Adviser's online portfolio game, which concluded on Friday, looks too hard to call before the final checks were completed across the four...

Ashburton global funds launch.
July 4, 2005... ASHBURTON has relaunched two low-volatility managed income funds under its global funds umbrella. The AGBP45.3m Sterling Managed Income fund and the AGBP14m US Dollar Managed Income funds have refocused on fixed income growth, a shift from...

Aberdeen stamps mark on Deutsche.
July 11, 2005... Aberdeen has said it will not sell the retail arm of Deutsche Asset Management -- branded as DWS -- following the latter's acquisition. Aberdeen's AGBP215m acquisition of DeAM's UK arm is set for completion by the end of September....

Equities rally after bombs.
July 11, 2005... Investment houses and analysts have emphasised the underlying strength of UK equities despite last week's terrorist attacks. Justin Urquhart Stewart, marketing director of 7im, said it was vital to be seen to support the UK equity market at...

BDT Japan Focus to be capped.
July 11, 2005... BDT Invest is considering setting a cap on its new Japan Focus fund. In line with the rest of the boutique asset manager's fund range, the estimated cap will be AGBP144m. Launched at the start of June and lead managed by Simon Dobson,...

Experts uncertain over rates freeze.
July 11, 2005... The Bank of England's decision to hold the interest rate signals the MPC is at a loss over the economy's direction, investment commentators believe. On Thursday, the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the base rate at 4.75 per cent...

Euro equities 'attractive'.
July 11, 2005... European equities will remain more attractive than UK equities, with the former at their cheapest level since 1997, a report from Axa suggests. According to the report, the European equity market has surged ahead with European stocks...

'Cut red tape' urges EU markets commissioner.
July 11, 2005... Charlie McCreevy, EU commissioner for internal markets and services, has urged regulators to cut red tape or risk damaging financial markets. Speaking in London, the commissioner told an audience of European regulators that greater...

Global resources a natural arena for hedge activity.
July 11, 2005... The cyclical nature and volatility of global resources markets makes them a natural location for hedge fund activity, First State Investments said. The Australian fund manager said the diversity in quality and running costs of resources...

Close is to market its own multi funds.
July 11, 2005... Close Finsbury Asset Management will market multi-manager funds under its own brand name following its latest takeover. Close entered into an agreement to buy Escher UK Asset Management last week, subject to FSA approval. While Escher...

Integrity launches Utopia fund.
July 11, 2005... Integrity, a specialist traded endowment policy manager, has launched its Utopia fund. The open-ended traded life fund promises a minimum 8 per cent a year return. Utopia will invest in the US-based Jumbo Senior Life Settlement...

Spink takes over Schroder Europe.
July 18, 2005... Jupiter Asset Management's top European fund manager, Leon Howard-Spink, is taking over from Schroder's European manager Adriaan de Mol van Otterloo. The move comes as Schroder announced two manager departures and the launch of three more...

Investec pilots bond fund.
July 18, 2005... Investec Asset Manage-ment is testing its fixed income skills internally before the possible launch of an absolute return bond fund. David Aird, managing director for Investec, said the company's fixed income team has been running a pilot...

Standard Life to offer wrap.
July 18, 2005... Standard Life will launch an aggressively marketed wrap in December, despite providing the tax wrapper and administration for Fidelity Funds Network's offering. John Taylor, Standard Life marketing director, said: "There will be some...

Investec recruits for its Cautious Managed team.
July 18, 2005... The growth of the AGBP575m Investec Cautious Managed fund has led to the company bulking up its resources team. Investec Asset Manage-ment's team, which runs the CM fund as well as three other retail portfolios, will be joined by a fifth...

L&G insurance bond to be offered by Cofunds.
July 18, 2005... Funds platform Cofunds is launching an onshore insurance bond as the first stage in a business model for distributing packaged products. The bond, offered by Legal & General, will be launched in the autumn. It will include 200 funds, to be...

Premier announces Far East fund details.
July 18, 2005... Premier Asset Management has announced further portfolio details for its planned Far East fund launch. The ex Japan fund -- to be launched in September -- will be dominated by Hong Kong companies, which will make up at least 45 per cent of...

SVG to launch trust in bid to exploit equity gap.
July 18, 2005... SVG Capital is aiming to exploit the gap in the market between private and public equity with its new trust launch. Strategic Equity Capital will launch this week and be a London-listed trust which will invest predominantly in UK-listed...

Veritas and Newton play employee musical chairs.
July 18, 2005... Former Newton manager James Harries has returned to the fold, after a year at Veritas, to run a new retail fund for Newton. Mr Harries, who joined Veritas in July 2004, had been made manager of Veritas' new Global Income Oeic, which was...

Close opens its Euro fund door.
July 18, 2005... Close Fund Management is to offer a fund with five times the growth in the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50. The Close European Accelerated fund has a six-year term with a potential 9 per cent annual return. It will offer five times the growth...

Needle looks to fill its equity chief role.
July 25, 2005... Threadneedle has replaced its head of UK equities for the second time in less than a year. Last week, Henderson stung Threadneedle by poaching Graham Kitchen, who had joined the company from Invesco last year. After having recently...

Premier ponders charges.
July 25, 2005... Boutique fund management group Premier is considering imposing initial charges on multi-manager operations in the aftermath of the first Oeic takeover two weeks ago. Simon Weldon, managing director for sales and marketing at Premier, said...

M&G alters adviser fee structure.
July 25, 2005... M&G has altered its commission structure in light of last week's upping of annual fund management charges. Gary Shaughnessy, M&G's chief executive of UK retail, said commission on funds that already had an annual management charge of 1.5...

Market factors in August rate cut.
July 25, 2005... Fund managers and economists believe an interest rate cut is likely to happen in August. This follows the release of MPC minutes revealing that the decision to keep them at 4.75 per cent was decided by a single vote. The tightness of...

Europe good for growth and value says Fidelity.
July 25, 2005... European markets are ripe for both growth and value managers, according to Fidelity. Despite several market predictions that growth will overtake value styles in European equity markets this year, Fidelity has claimed there are...

China rebase will make picking winners harder.
July 25, 2005... Fund managers are warning that the revaluation of the renminbi may encourage careless investing. Last week, the People's Bank of Central China removed its currency peg to the US dollar and announced its replacement with a peg to a basket...

Atherton joins chorus of Japan market supporters.
July 25, 2005... Jeff Atherton of Insight has joined the throng of fund managers anticipating resurgence in Japanese equities. Mr Atherton, director of international equities and manager of the AGBP151.7m Japan Equity fund, is bemused by the lack of...

Murray VCT boards are forced to call EGMs.
July 25, 2005... The Murray VCT123 Action Group trying to overthrow the VCTs' directors has forced the boards to call EGMs. Charles Clark, who is leading the action group, said he had received more than the 10 per cent required of shareholder backing in...

FSA U-turn on FSCS fees allows advisers to pay by instalments.
July 25, 2005... THE FSA has executed a U-turn on its stance to allow IFAs to pay their FSCS levies in instalments. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme levy and FSA fees are due to be paid by the beginning of September. They are expected to be even...

Big names on Sesame platform.
July 25, 2005... Products from Axa, L&G, Norwich Union, Prudential and Standard Life will be available to IFAs on the Sesame Select multi-tie platform. Sesame, an IFA network with more than 8000 advisers on its books, said the service would offer a full...

F&C warns of misuse of Ucits III by managers.
July 25, 2005... F&C's fixed income manager has warned of a potential misuse of Ucits III flexibilities by fund management groups keen to apply them across existing funds. Roman Gaiser, director of high yield fixed income and manager of the top-performing...

Regulator attacked on consumer rights.
July 25, 2005... The FSA has been accused of placing the interests of financial services firms above consumers at its annual public meeting. Disgruntled consumers leveled a series of charges against the regulator at the meeting last Thursday. One attendee...

Fidelity boosts Weatherbuilder.
July 25, 2005... Fidelity International has launched two more asset allocation funds into its Wealthbuilder range. Managed by Richard Skelt, the Target range aims to transfer investors gradually from equities into bonds and cash as each fund matures. ...

European equities get thumbs up.
July 25, 2005... The case for European equities has been strengthened by attractive valuations, company-level restructuring and a weak euro, Butterfield Bank has said. Richard Saunders, senior investment manager for the Guernsey-based bank, said weak...

Cornelian leaves the door open for more acquisitions.
July 25, 2005... Edinburgh-based Cornelian Asset Managers is not ruling out acquisitions as its looks to double its assets. The company has grown assets under management from AGBP45m to AGBP145m over the past three years and is aiming to double this over...

Buxton ponders return to unloved consumers.
July 25, 2005... Richard Buxton, manager of Schroder's AGBP448m UK Alpha Plus fund, is considering a return to unfavoured consumer stocks. The manager, also head of UK equities for the investment manager, said: "You have a classic situation. The consumer...

Five fund managers added to Amex Europe platform.
July 25, 2005... Amex has added five fund managers to its wrap platform on the advice of IFA clients. Multi-manager T Bailey, Bedlam Asset Management, Old Mutual Fund Managers, Prudential Unit Trusts and Skandia Investment Manage- ment are now available...

FSA revises enforcement procedures.
July 25, 2005... The FSA has revised enforcement practices following criticism its procedures were stacked against businesses accused of malpractice. The regulator instigated a review of decision-making and enforcement practices in February, after a...

Legg's US funds offer low turnover.
July 25, 2005... High concentration and low portfolio turnover are key features for the Legg Mason trio of US small-cap funds available to UK investors. Managed by subsidiary Royce & Associates, the funds -- Dublin-based $217.37m US Small-Cap Equity and...

Share buy-back move from English & Int'l.
July 25, 2005... The AGBP270.8m Invesco English & International trust is set to introduce a share buy-back facility so investors can redeem shares quarterly. The move follows the decision of the AGBP55.5m Gartmore Growth Opportunities trust to introduce a...

Nervous bond market expected by Snowden.
July 25, 2005... The corporate bond market will remain nervous for the rest of the year, claimed the manager of the AGBP301m Old Mutual Corporate Bond fund. Manager Stephen Snowden the fund said this nervousness would present a great opportunity to invest....

Ford leaves Gartmore to return to UK and F&C.
July 25, 2005... Gartmore US Smaller Companies manager Nick Ford is rejoining his former colleague Robert Siddles at F&C. Mr Ford, who was working for four years in Philadelphia for Gartmore, decided to return to the UK for family reasons. From August, he...

Jupiter says FoHF are with profits alternative.
July 25, 2005... Forget multi-manager, funds of hedge funds are the most viable alternative to with profits bonds, Jupiter's director of pension development has claimed. Speaking in response to the latest debate on using multi-manager funds as the best...

Walek finds journalists gloomy over hedge funds.
July 25, 2005... The media vision of hedge funds is still gloomy, according to research from consultant Walek & Associates. Despite fewer journalists expecting a hedge fund bubble than in the 2002 survey, increasing numbers of them think the industry is...

Too late for Shell/ Royal Dutch play.
July 25, 2005... It is too late to play last week's merger of Shell and Royal Dutch shares, according to UK fund managers at both Schroder and Insight Investment. Against a background of tracker managers being forced to increase their weighting, Tim Rees,...

Performance.
July 25, 2005... Premier's AGBP62.5m Selector Balanced fund was the only top-performing fund in Trustnet's Income & Bond sector to record positive alpha. Alpha among the top five funds -- Axa's AGBP18m Multi-Manager Income, Insight's AGBP18.9m...

Fitzwilliam multi-man rebalanced after bombs.
July 25, 2005... BDO Stoy Hayward's Sharon Segal has rebalanced the Fitzwilliam Multi-Manager fund of funds after equities fell following London's terrorist bombings. Ms Segal, investment director and manager of the AGBP80m unit trust, said she had cut the...

Numbers positive for the year to date.
July 25, 2005... Hedge fund strategies have had a positive first half, according to data from three hedge fund index providers. CSFB/Tremont, MSCI/Barra and Edhec have all reported global hedge fund strategies were up again in June, meaning overall returns...

T Bailey pins hopes on Investec Energy.
July 25, 2005... T Bailey Fund Managers has invested AGBP2.2m of its flagship Growth Fund into the AGBP9.8m Investec Global Energy fund. The purchase has been funded from the strong cash inflows received since the Growth fund hit AGBP100m a few weeks ago,...

Buy & Sell.
July 25, 2005... Legg Mason US Value fund 1 Nick Pothier, manager of the AGBP18m Axa Multi-Manager Income portfolio, said he had been diversifying geographical exposure, which is dominated by UK stocks. The manager bought positions in Legg Mason's US Value...

Needle Euro Select to reduce stock numbers.
July 25, 2005... Threadneedle's AGBP1bn European Select Growth fund manager will reduce stocks to take a more concentrated approach. Darrell O'Dea has now passed over his lead manager role to his deputy Phil Cliff to concentrate his efforts on the hedge...

Property managers ponder Euro move.
July 25, 2005... COMMERCIAL property fund managers are mooting a move from UK to European commercial buildings over fears of a domestic downturn. According to a report from Bath-based adviser Chartwell Investment Management, there is an ever-broadening...

Latin American stability may boost growth: Abbey.
July 25, 2005... A potential for improved stability in Latin America could deliver long-term growth and valuation benefits, James Bevan, chief investment officer of Abbey said. Mr Bevan said emerging market stocks were trading on a one third discount to...

ScotLife asks for govt help over Sipp tax rise warning.
July 25, 2005... Scottish Life has called on the government to warn Sipp investors of a retrospective 55 per cent tax hit on their assets. Steve Bee, head of pensions strategy, said advisers were running out of time to find clients with assets needing...

Finance Act gives respite to CanLife.
July 25, 2005... The Canada Life five-year annuity has been granted a reprieve by this year's Finance Act. Peter Carter, technical manager for pensions at the insurer, said the previous year's Act, which would have forced policyholders to convert the...

Sipp market to grow by 29% in 12 months.
July 25, 2005... Leading providers anticipate 29 per cent growth in the Sipp market over the next 12 months. According to a report from financial consultancy Richard Davies Investor Relations, seven out of eight groups expected the value of the Sipp market...

Edinburgh overhauls rollover trust.
July 25, 2005... Edinburgh Partners has completely overhauled the portfolio of the former Anglo & Overseas investment trust following the rollover from Deutsche Asset Management. EP will be left with AGBP85m of assets under management (from AGBP332.5m)...

Outlook good for Euro small caps.
July 25, 2005... European smaller companies will continue to surprise on the upside this year, according to F&C. The AGBP136.2m European Assets trust has risen by 52.3 per cent, mid-to-mid over the past year , to 11 July, according to S&P. While this...

Utilities trust hires two more for team.
July 25, 2005... Utilities trust Ecofin has added two new members to its team after growing its assets under management. The AGBP300m Water & Power Opportunities trust has seen its assets increase by AGBP50m following a share issue and as a result the...

Investors lose out on AGBP2.1bn says Dennehy.
July 25, 2005... Investors have lost out on more than AGBP2.1bn in the 10 worst UK equity funds with more than AGBP400m in assets under management. According to a report from Kent-based IFA Dennehy Weller, tracker funds are the worst culprits over three...

Henderson gets the axe from MLC job.
July 25, 2005... Manager of managers MLC has sacked Henderson Global Advisers as manager of its UK equities portfolio. The manager, part of National Australia Bank, has appointed Alliance Capital and Dimensional Fund Advisers in replacement. MLC has also...

Way's offshore life bond to assist in IHT planning.
July 25, 2005... Boutique Way Investment Services will launch new inheritance tax planning products through an offshore life bond invested in its multi-manager funds. The life bond will be available this month and its development follows a deal with...

CSAM scouts for nimblest players for its Incubator fund.
July 25, 2005... Credit Suisse Asset Management's latest multi-manager Incubator fund of funds will look to invest in the smallest, nimblest funds in the market. The fund will launch on 25 July and will have a focus on investing in what CSAM considers to...

Managers returning to convertibles for safety.
July 25, 2005... Convertibles are returning to favour among fund managers for their bond-like safety and outperformance potential. Fund managers for Canada Life and JPMorgan Asset Management have advocated a move into the asset class. Convertibles make...

Nat Grid sparks advice need.
July 25, 2005... Clients owning National Grid shares could soon be asking IFAs for investment advice. Fund managers have stated that following National Grid's announcement earlier this month that it was selling four network companies, returning the...

AIG adds Luckraft income fund.
July 25, 2005... AIG Life has added the AGBP131.3m Framlington Monthly Income fund to its Active Access bond range. The fund, managed by George Luckraft, has joined AIG's range following the soft closure of Framlington's AGBP757.7m Income fund, run by the...

Invesco concerned over China economic model.
July 25, 2005... China is still not rewarding investors as much as other Asian economies, Invesco has claimed. Stuart Parks, head of Asian Equities at Invesco Perpetual and manager of the S&P AA-rated AGBP232.7m Asian fund, said most large Asian countries...

L&C buys UK blue chips as market sentiment dips.
July 25, 2005... Wealth manager London & Capital has increased its exposure to UK equities on its growth strategy portfolios to 10 per cent. Until recently, the exposure was virtually nil. The growth strategy portfolios, which include segregated funds,...

Warning over timing of Schroder Oriental launch.
July 25, 2005... Miton Investment Management has warned that Schroder risks launching its Oriental Income fund at the top of the market cycle. Fund manager Sam Liddle has significant exposure to high yielding Asian stocks in his AGBP19.4m Global portfolio....

UBS takes indirect road to China.
July 25, 2005... Risks associated with investing in China -- such as perceived corruption and poor liquidity -- can be overcome by gaining indirect exposure to country's booming economy. Yvonne Thomas-Chester, fund manager for the AGBP18.9m UBS Developed...

Confusion continues on Ucits III and Non-Ucits.
July 25, 2005... Uncertainty over the marketability of Ucits III and Non-Ucits Retail funds because of their regulatory classification is likely to persist until at least next year. Execution-only businesses stand to lose huge levels of revenue if certain...

IMA calls for revamp of pooling regulations.
July 25, 2005... THE IMA is to lobby the European Commission to amend its rules on investment and borrowing powers in the Ucits directive. In its second report on barriers to pooling funds across European borders, the IMA repeated its calls for reform of...

Midas heavy on emerging markets.
July 25, 2005... Investment boutique Midas Capital is maintaining a heavy weighting to emerging markets within its AGBP52.9m Balanced Growth portfolio. The fund, which can invest across most asset classes, has selected four emerging market funds for its...

FDL slammed for complex forms.
July 25, 2005... Fund Distribution Limited has dismissed claims that the complexity of its split-cap compensation forms put people off returning their forms. According to FDL, it received 39,500 forms back from investors in split-capital, out of an...

Getting more bang for your buck.
July 25, 2005... Remaining on tall, gangly fund managers, Peter Crouch, the lanky 6ft 7inch striker whose move to Liverpool was sealed last week, worked out at exactly AGBP88,607.595 per inch. If he scores the same amount of goals he scored for Southampton (16)...

Take a break, take a Kitcat-.
July 25, 2005... Chocolate is one of the best-loved foods everywhere in the world. It is one of life's little pleasures. The attractive tastes and textures of chocolate and chocolate products delight the senses of all ages. So Mellon are pleased to unwrap their...

-or p-p-p-pick up a penguin.
July 25, 2005... Staying on things chocolatey, the offices of Investment Adviser were invaded by a group of sinister fish-eaters last week. In scenes reminiscent of the classic action adventure thriller, Wallace & Grommit -- The Wrong Trousers, silent penguins...