Investment Adviser articles from June 2004

Investment Adviser archives from June 2004

Watchdog considers regional ambassadors.
June 7, 2004... THE FSA is considering outposts and regional "ambassadors" to do spot checks on firms. The regulator has launched an internal initiative that would see Financial Services Authority representatives posted around the country. It would...

Dexion is set to issue 150m shares.
June 7, 2004... FUND of hedge funds provider Dexion Absolute is to issue 150m new shares at 100p a share. Directors at Dexion have written to shareholders with proposals for the share issue and approval will be needed by way of an extraordinary general...

Jupiter offers variable gearing on two trusts.
June 7, 2004... The fund manager will provide investors in the trusts, which are still subject to FSA approval, the option of having between 0 per cent and 55 per cent gearing on their holdings. They will be split capital investment trusts, and will be...

Zurich gives access to equity and property.
June 7, 2004... ZURICH has offered investors access to UK equity and residential property, backed by a 100 per cent capital guarantee. The provider's Select Guarantee Account allows investors to pick the amount of exposure they would like to have to the UK...

Framlington and Invesco enjoy strong sales growth.
June 7, 2004... The industry insider Pridham report paid credit to Framlington fund managers George Luckraft and Nigel Thomas, while stating that the arrival of the pair two years ago from ABN Amro had stimulated mass retail interest in the stock-broker. ...

Euro plan gets political go-ahead.
June 7, 2004... A Crucial piece in the European financial services jigsaw has been fitted into place. A range of EU committees have agreed a structure that could lead to the swift integration of crucial financial rules and legislation. It will mean...

Framlington to headhunt Mitchinson replacement.
June 7, 2004... Framlington has confirmed that it is looking externally for candidates to fill the soon to be vacant manager position of its Japan fund. Star manager of the AGBP73m fund David Mitchinson will be leaving the company in July to join JPMorgan...

Hambi to offer FoF package by autumn.
June 7, 2004... GARTMORE has set the launch date of a range of fund of funds for the autumn, and hinted that a high-alpha proposition would feature among them. The asset manager had penciled in the second quarter of 2004 as the time to extend its...

Pictet looks away from traditional pharmas.
June 7, 2004... Pictet Funds is to launch a fund investing in companies producing generic drugs. The fund launch follows Pictet's -- the fund manager arm of private bank Pictet & Cie -- decision to launch its specialist Water fund in the UK. The new...

Currie plans Japan hedge follow up.
June 7, 2004... Martin Currie will launch a Japanese hedge fund on 2 September after closing a predecessor to new investment. The Martin Currie Daijiro - Absolute Return fund will be run by the company's Japan hedge fund managers John-Paul Temperley, Keith...

Baring gets downbeat on flat May.
June 7, 2004... A global overview from Baring reflected a flat month for markets and highlighted steep one-day drops in Japan, the UK and US. The review for May showed the effects of potential US rate rises in the month, as well as worldwide concern over...

Bond fund expands L&G's range.
June 7, 2004... The fund, which was launched on 1 June, will invest in L&G's Fixed interest trust and High Income trust and will be lead managed by Torben Cattley. The fund will typically invest 70 per cent in the fixed interest fund, which is managed by...

Marlborough turns to Spec Sit team for micro.
June 7, 2004... Marlborough has released details of its new UK micro-cap fund, due for launch in mid September. The fund, which will be run by Giles Hargreave, is likely to attract the attention of IFAs on the back of the performance of his AGBP49.3m...

Discount tempts Japan fund punters.
June 7, 2004... The boutique has made the offer of a discount for IFAs until 31 August, following a month of poor performance in Japan equities. The fund has performed well over the past year, rising 46.9 per cent, bid-to-bid, to 31 May compared with a...

Fry Group at helm of fund of funds trio JV.
June 7, 2004... Asset managers Premier, Sarasin and financial planning firm the Fry Group are planning to launch three funds of funds. The funds will be in the form of a Dublin-listed Oeic with three sub-funds and will be available over the next two to...

Japan small caps hit rocks in May after a stellar year.
June 7, 2004... Japan small-cap funds sank to double-digit losses in May after outstripping every other sector over six months and a year. Four of the five worst performing unit trusts in May were Japanese equity funds, and three of those were smaller...

Skeoch to take on SLI CEO role permanently.
June 7, 2004... Keith Skeoch has taken over permanently as chief executive of Standard Life Investments. Mr Skeoch has been filling the position on a temporary basis since January when his predecessor, Sandy Crombie, was appointed as Standard Life's group...

Invesco's UK Equity is top in ScotLife's pension range.
June 7, 2004... INVESCO Perpetual's UK Equity fund is the most popular external fund link in Scottish Life's pension range. The AGBP182.3m fund was the most popular choice among pension investors for the first three months of 2004, having also been the...

London hub of growing hedge industry: survey.
June 7, 2004... London is the centre of European hedge fund management activity, a report into the industry has revealed. Hedge funds under management in London doubled between 2002 and 2003 from AGBP33bn to nearly AGBP65bn. This represents 70 per cent of...

Hedge assets calls too low -- Platinum.
June 7, 2004... Record investment in hedge funds will see assets under management rise to about AGBP2.18 trillion by 2010, according to hedge fund provider Platinum. In an article by Platinum Capital Management's chairman Peter Sprecher, Is 2 Trillion...

Friends offers ethical Safeguard to cautious.
June 7, 2004... FRIENDS Provident has launched an open-ended ethical fund and added four fund links to its Investment Portfolio Bond. The Stewardship Safeguard Optimiser is available through the FP Investment Portfolio Bond as a lower risk graded fund. ...

Trade bodies worry over PI threat to advice on trusts.
June 14, 2004... Increasing numbers of IFAs without appropriate professional indemnity cover may struggle to advise on investment trust changes. According to trade bodies, advisers claimed tightening requirements for PI insurance was making it harder to...

Argo to roll out global special sits.
June 14, 2004... A global special situations fund has been launched by asset managers Argo Capital Management. The fund will invest in emerging market debt and recovery trade situations. The Argo Global Special Situations fund has been designed for...

Property unit trust is set for October debut.
June 14, 2004... BRITANNIC is to launch a property unit trust in October, planning to take advantage of its institutional expertise in the sector. The fund launch has been spearheaded by the new chief executive at Britannic Asset Management, Gavin Stewart,...

IMA wants true pan-EU body.
June 14, 2004... CALLS have been made for an effective pan-European association representing the investment industry. Lindsay Tomlinson, chairman of the Investment Management Association, used its annual dinner to call for investment firms across the EU to...

Britannic to launch two hedge funds.
June 14, 2004... Gavin Stewart, the new chief executive at Britannic Asset Management, has said he will launch two hedge funds. The new long/short funds will be launched in October and Britannic has said that they will be managed by the existing investment...

Equity funds prepare shift to defensive mode.
June 14, 2004... UK equity managers may raise their defensive positions if interest rates rise much beyond 5 per cent this year. Old Mutual Asset Management said that it would start selling mortgage banks if rates were to go as high as 6 per cent. Last...

Regulator hones in on advocacy benefits.
June 14, 2004... The FSA is investigating the relationship between IFAs receiving indirect benefits from providers and panel recommendations. Robin Gordon-Walker, press officer at the Financial Services Authority, said it was conducting a stock-take of...

Treasury poised to up Sandler charges.
June 14, 2004... The government is believed to be close to agreeing a higher front-end commission on Sandler products. This could represent a breakthrough for the 1 per cent ceiling, and lead to more choice as competitiveness for business increases. ...

Russia will remain strong as oil price rises: Schroder.
June 14, 2004... Russian equities are insulated from macroeconomic risks and look attractively valued, according to Schroder. Global equities have been hit by concerns over higher oil prices and rising interest rates over the past two months. However,...

London venture pair see rise in their net asset values.
June 14, 2004... TWO London-based venture capital trusts have announced net asset value increases of 43 per cent and 34 per cent. The ProVen VCT increased its net asset value for a share to 102.2p and the ProVen Media VCT increased to 112.6p. These...

FSSC faces criticism over exam selection.
June 14, 2004... MORE prescriptive rules on exam selection are needed from the Financial Services Skills Council, according to the investment industry. In a report of responses to the examination review, it was revealed that some respondents were concerned...

Merricks warns on caution.
June 14, 2004... THE chief ombudsman has warned investment advisers on the dangers of being too risk averse. Walter Merricks told MPs in a Treasury select committee last week that investment advisers could be in danger of mis-selling claims if they did not...

Newton fund remains strong under Frikee.
June 14, 2004... TINEKE Frikee has maintained the steady performance of the Newton Higher Income fund since taking over its helm. Ms Frikee said April had been a cruel month for the fund as several heavyweight stocks, not held by the portfolio, had leapt...

FPI additions for Guernsey funds.
June 14, 2004... FRIENDS Provident International has cleared the way for investment in five of its funds through its Guernsey-based products. FPI said that the additions provided investors with the opportunity to diversify their portfolio beyond the...

Isa change plans are unappealing: study.
June 14, 2004... ALMOST a third of investors feel less inclined to invest in Isas following plans to slash the savings limit and the abolition of tax credits. This is according to a survey conducted by NMG Research for Isis Asset Management. The...

Bedlam to tap Japan's value.
June 14, 2004... BEDLAM Asset Management plans to launch its Japan fund in October. The Bedlam Japan fund will be a Dublin-based Oeic with a minimum investment level of AGBP3000. Ian McCallum, who co-manages Bedlam's AGBP10.1m Global fund with Jonathan...

Wagstaff leaves as M&G plans reshuffle.
June 14, 2004... Phil Wagstaff, managing director of UK retail at M&G, has resigned ahead of changes that will eradicate his role. The departure of Mr Wagstaff coincided with restructuring at M&G, the asset management arm of Prudential, that will see his...

Omam adds to hedge FoF.
June 14, 2004... US and Japan hedge funds have been added to Old Mutual's Multi-Strategy fund of hedge funds. The Old Mutual US Specialist Equity fund and the Old Mutual Asia Pacific Equity fund, both launched at the start of May, will now occupy a 10 per...

Saudi Arabia crisis knocks Asian stocks hardest.
June 14, 2004... Volatility following further terrorist incidents in Saudi Arabia hit Asian stocks, while UK equity income funds weathered the storm. This is according to fund performance figures from Lipper Hindsight, which showed that the UK Equity Income...

Inter and Millfield deal talks start well.
June 14, 2004... National IFA Inter-Alliance is set to merge with Millfield, according to analysts. The IFA entered merger talks with IFA Millfield last week -- just five weeks after a deal fell through with IFA Berkeley Berry Birch. In a statement to...

Bond investors to lose out.
June 14, 2004... Investors are in danger of losing money on corporate bonds because of the interest rate climate. According to a leading bond fund manager, investors could well be losing their original capital as interest rate rises. John Pattullo, who...

Interdependence is hit with FSA fine.
June 14, 2004... AN IFA network fined AGBP125,000 for advice on pensions withdrawal claimed it has made improvements. Tenet-owned network Interdependence was landed with the fine by the FSA for serious failings in advice. The regulator branded the...

Artemis North American Growth fund on the rise.
June 14, 2004... THE AGBP5.1m Artemis North American Growth fund has leapt through the ranks over the past three months. Its strong performance has been aided by a switch in equity markets back to growth and large-cap stocks, where the fund concentrates....

Shareholders approve bid to rebrand Fleming trust.
June 14, 2004... SHAREHOLDERS of the AGBP1.185bn Fleming Mercantile investment trust have passed proposals to change its name. The trust's name was changed to the JPMorgan Fleming Mercantile trust on 7 June. This is the 20th, and final, JPMorgan...

TR Property trust in AGBP8.275m City buy.
June 14, 2004... THE AGBP474.1m TR Property trust has made its first direct property investment since February 2001. Last week, it announced it had bought number six Lloyd's Avenue in the City for AGBP8.275m. The site is a 34,000sq ft building, let to 21...

PPF regulator's powers may deter investors.
June 14, 2004... Investors could be dissuaded from the Pension Protection Fund as its regulator will have too much power, according to Mercer. The consulting firm stated that under new clauses the regulator of the pension compensation fund would have the...

Property Sipp offers advisers total service.
June 14, 2004... TM Sipp Services is to roll out a property Sipp before the end of the month. Its Property Sipp adds to its existing Sipp product -- the Elite Retirement Account. Brian Talbot, partner of TM Sipp Services, said: "It will give IFAs the...

FPC opens its doors for business.
June 14, 2004... You can now build your portfolios online for the Fantasy Portfolio Challenge. Investment Adviser's online portfolio competition, sponsored by Ample, opens its doors this Monday. Investment professionals can invest in between one and...

Pensions industry to pay for new rules.
June 14, 2004... The pensions industry will pay millions for new income drawdown rules, according to Scottish Equitable. Stewart Ritchie, pensions development director at Scottish Equitable, said company systems would have to be completely redesigned to...

Pharon hire paves way for services expansion.
June 14, 2004... Alan Stokes, former head of Solus multi-manager funds, has re-emerged at Kent-based IFA, the Pharon Group. He joined the company last Monday as investment manager and will help the firm expand its range of investment services. This may...

Peripheral Europe is best, says Fidelity.
June 14, 2004... Colin Stone, manager of the AGBP447.4m Fidelity European Opportunities fund, believes the best investment opportunities lie in "peripheral" Europe, in countries such as Greece, Ireland and the EU accession countries. Mr Stone, who took...

Advisers warned against using fund tracking error.
June 14, 2004... Isis Asset Management is warning advisers that using a fund's tracking error as an indicator of risk can be misleading. The tracking error shows the extent to which a fund deviates from its benchmark, frequently an index such as the FTSE...

S&F to change Kermesse to Oeic.
June 14, 2004... Singer & Friedlander has converted its British Virgin Islands based Kermesse fund to an Oeic structure. The shareholders of the international business firm voted to amalgamate the AGBP4.4m fund with the Singer & Friedlander International...

Gold loses appeal as dollar hedge.
June 14, 2004... Bedlam Asset Management's AGBP10.1m Global fund sold off gold holdings last month in the wake of rising US interest rates. Fund managers Jonathan Compton and Ian McCallum sold positions in Papua New Guinean producer Lihir, Indonesian miner...

Work data allays US rate rise fears.
June 14, 2004... ROBUST labour market data from the US has left few doubting that US interest rates will rise at the end of this month. Fund manager Gerrard pointed to data showing that non-farm payrolls increased by 248,000 in May. It believes the new...

Emerging markets rise, but S&P cuts fund stars.
June 14, 2004... Standard & Poor's has downgraded six emerging markets funds despite the overall performance of global emerging markets outshining that of their developed counterparts. S&P re-rated the funds as part of its latest review of its European...

RMB spreads the risk globally with FoF roll out.
June 14, 2004... INVESTMENT manager RMB International has launched a fund of hedge funds called Focused Opportunities. The fund, which is available in dollar and euro denominated share classes, has been developed by RMB International's Luxembourg...

Quest to increase hedge accessibility.
June 14, 2004... HEDGE fund managers in Europe are adopting new approaches to work within varying degrees of legislation, a report has found. Across the eurozone and in the UK, regulatory restrictions on hedge fund provision and marketing have challenged...

VCTs behind other private equity forms.
June 14, 2004... The performance of venture capital trusts is lagging behind other private equity investments, according to private investor network Hotbed. It points to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of UK private equity performance, which excludes...

Jupiter European funds buck trend.
June 14, 2004... Jupiter's European manager puts his funds' consistent outperformance down to the fact he does not follow any market fads. Alex Darwall's AGBP873.6m Jupiter European fund and AGBP99.8m European Opportunities investment trust, along with...

Specialist fund solutions demand rising: Morgan.
June 14, 2004... FUND groups using traditional strategies will face growing pressure from those offering specialist solutions, according to Morgan Stanley. The investment bank expects investors to increasingly demand a core portfolio of largely passive or...

Keydata to offer VCT in expanded market role.
June 14, 2004... Structured product provider Keydata is to make its debut in the VCT market before the end of the year. It plans to launch a venture capital trust in the third quarter of this year. Roddi Vaughan-Thomas, head of corporate communications...

IFA escapes crippling fine to cover investors.
June 14, 2004... by james coney AN investment advisory firm escaped severe FSA punishment for putting AGBP6.7m into an unauthorised -- and apparently illegal -- scheme. Aberdeen-based Scotts Private Client Services received a relatively low fine when...

Perhaps we should say S&M.
June 14, 2004... The staff at Standard & Poor's don't know how sexy their press releases are. One release was blocked by email postmasters. The reason: pornography. What it be? A sordid scandal involving a fund manager and a junior researcher? An IFA caught in...

When intrusion starts to take the...
June 14, 2004... Speaking at the AGM dinner of the IMA, shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin has complained about "excessive intrusive regulation", impinging even to the very core of his constituency -- the idyllic Piddlehinton village in Dorset's Piddle Valley...

Fourth quarter rally to follow US uncertainty.
June 14, 2004... CHRIS Lees, manager of the AGBP96.3m Tribune Global Managed trust, is predicting a stock market rally for the fourth quarter. He is hoping for a high single digit return this year, but believes equity gains will not gather pace until the...

No ducks for charity cricket.
June 14, 2004... City big hitters will be donning their whites at the Securities Institute Annual Financial Ashes charity cricket match on Tuesday 3 August at the Honourable Artillery Company grounds in Moorgate, London -- just a cricket ball's throw from IA...

Pushing ahead in the shadow of the Goliaths.
June 14, 2004... Investment Adviser: You left Solus under something of a cloud. Could you talk us through what led to your departure? Alan Stokes: It was a company decision. Yes, it was unpleasant and it was not something that I liked, but with these things...

Preparing for Ucits III fever.
June 14, 2004... Investment Adviser's third Analyst Special Report plunges into, as yet, largely uncharted waters for the retail industry (see pages 39 to 50). The full implications of Ucits III and the Collective Investment Scheme Sourcebook proposals, first...

Senate conference to focus on focus.
June 14, 2004... The Senate Investment Conference programme is putting focus funds under the microscope this year. Of the 19 sponsoring product provider speaker sessions at the Sway Investment Conference in Monte Carlo, sponsored by Investment Adviser,...

Lessons of the bonds.
June 14, 2004... The mantra of the investment industry, "stocks for the long run'", has long been with us. Investors are told to invest in the equity markets, confident in the knowledge that the long run will see them good, protecting their portfolios from of...

FSA calls for opinion on child trust funds.
June 14, 2004... THE Financial Services Authority has asked product providers and IFAs for their comments on selling child trust funds. The regulator launched the long-awaited consultation paper outlining the responsibility of companies and advisers when...

Hargreaves fined over zero portfolio.
June 14, 2004... THE FSA has hit Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management with a AGBP300,000 fine. The regulator dished out the punishment for breaches of rules relating to the firm's Secure Growth Portfolio. This was a service that offered discretionary...

Appeal of the VCT begins its ascent.
June 14, 2004... As most of the readers of Investment Adviser know, Gordon Brown changed the rules surrounding venture capital trusts in his March budget. For once, rather than making life more complicated, he has actually made a product simpler and, arguably,...

Being big on Japan.
June 14, 2004... Investors are getting enthusiastic about Japan once again. Sandie Nairn of Edinburgh Partners found so many attractive domestically oriented Japanese stocks that he set up a special fund to exploit them. Mr Nairn is not alone. Overseas...

Expensive accessories?
June 14, 2004... Most professionals who buy or sell equities do so on the valiant assumption that the stocks they are buying are worth more than the prices they are paying for them, while the stocks they are selling are worth much less. For professional fund...

Casting the net.
June 14, 2004... Asset allocation is clearly a key part of any portfolio construction and is no exception in the Fantasy Portfolio Challenge. The benchmarks used to measure the relative success or failure of entrants' portfolios have been tailor-made, based on...

Hybrid funds: Diversity with flexibility.
June 14, 2004... By Ayse ferliel One of the most important maxims of the industry is: "Do not put all your eggs in one basket and have a mix of stocks, bonds and cash in your portfolio." This is hardly a surprise, and the rising popularity of funds...

Two is the magic number.
June 14, 2004... That two fund supermarkets are going to survive in the UK seems to be the accepted -- albeit misconstrued -- belief among the chattering industry pundits. Whenever I am asked by such pundits to guess how many will survive, my answer is always...

The search for alpha and anomalies.
June 14, 2004... The efficient markets hypothesis, introduced by Professor Eugene Fama in 1970, has been one of the most widely researched areas in financial economics. The debate between believers and non-believers in the theory is important, since if markets...

Different investor strokes.
June 14, 2004... Readers of this newspaper will be familiar with advertisements from fund management companies highlighting the superior performance of their funds -- the implication being that these trends will continue. However, as they say, past performance...

Something for everyone.
June 14, 2004... The UK hybrid funds space changed colour and shape with the introduction on Ucits III and publication of the Financial Services Authority's policy statement on CP185 -- The Collective Investment Schemes Sourcebook -- in the first quarter of...

Turn and face the change.
June 14, 2004... I can imagine a scene, around the end of March, when the whole policy team at the Financial Services Authority would have broken into a rendition of David Bowie's Changes -- a regulator's version of a Halifax advert with John Tiner taking the...