Investment Adviser articles from June 2008

Investment Adviser archives from June 2008

Gartmore ready to roll FoFs into one.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Active, Global High Alpha and High Alpha likely to fuse into single high-alpha offering Gartmore Investment's three smaller funds of funds are likely to be fused into one high alpha offering, head of multi-manager...

Top fund manager urges return to government bonds.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Gail Moss Index-linked government bonds - a popular investment during the high-inflation 1970s - should once again be part of an investor's armoury of inflation hedges, according to a leading fund manager. Percival Stanion,...

Pioneer launches second Ucits III cash-plus fund.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah PAI Absolute Return Asian Equity will look to give long-short exposure to China and south Asia Pioneer Alternative Investments has launched its second Ucits III cash-plus fund aimed at the retail market. PAI...

Train eyes on small caps, says Resolution manager.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Now could be the time to boost exposure to UK small caps, the manager of Resolution Asset Management's GBP99.7 Smaller Companies fund has said David Clark said in 12-18 months' time, small-cap funds would have...

Aiming for a brighter future.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Gervais Williams Aim stocks are extremely well positioned to deliver investors excellent opportunities for returns We are facing quite a tough period economically. A large number of derivative-based structured products of...

Ascentric becomes corporate sponsor of IFP.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny Ascentric, the Independent Wrap Provider, has become a corporate sponsor of the Institute of Financial Planning. The group said the move is a further commitment to show their support for Financial Planners, and...

Spotting quality wine.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Fergus O'Sullivan Last time, I used this space to thrash out a rough guide to understanding the system the French use to classify wines. To my dismay, French wine grades turned out to be so Byzantine in their complexity that not...

Winterthur adds five M&G funds.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans Five M&G funds have been added to the Winterthur Tailored Selection range. The GBP2.8bn Recovery, GBP3bn Global Basics, GBP967.3m American, GBP844.7m Global Leaders and GBP507.5m UK Select funds joined the GBP1.1bn...

Aifa restructures RDR working party.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans The Association of Independent Financial Advisers has rejigged its RDR working party. Chris Cummings, director general of Aifa, saluted the group's importance in supporting Aifa's submission to the review and said he...

Cofunds passes GBP15bn mark in AUM.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans The Cofunds platform has passed the GBP15bn mark in assets under management, two years after gathering GBP10bn in client funds. Despite the turmoil in world markets since last summer, the firm said it had consistently...

SLI acclaims absolute return funds for retail portfolios.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Nick Rice Standard Life Investments has hailed absolute returns funds as a future core holding in retail portfolios, as it announced its intention to include its new Global Absolute Return Strategies fund in the IMA Absolute Return...

Meteor launches Plan 6.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny Meteor Asset Management has launched the latest in its line of Galaxy Protected Commodities range, Plan 6. The new plan is a six-year and 14-day term, and is based upon an equally weighted basket of eight...

Axa Planning Tool wins web award.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny The Axa Planning Tool, a web-based portfolio planner from Axa Wealth Management, has won an EEE-rated e-Excellence award for the third year running. The tool, which offers IFA's the ability to create individual...

Time to grow up.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Laura Mossman One of the first and most valuable lessons a child learns is actions have consequences. If they put themselves in danger they may get hurt, or if they deliberately misbehave they must expect to be punished. ...

Capital trust takes top spot in ranking survey.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans The GBP1.8bn RIT Capital Partners trust has claimed the top spot in Alliance Trust Savings' Isa ranking survey for the second consecutive year. Moving into second place was the GBP2.4bn Scottish Mortgage trust, while...

EEA foresees more bad news for banking sector.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Financial specialist EEA Fund Management has claimed Fidelity International's Anthony Bolton is premature in suggesting the time is right to buy UK banking stocks. Jonathan Fieldsend, co-fund manager of the GBP64m...

Fidelity unveils new details for Global Credit Opportunities fund.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Fidelity International has revealed further details of its Global Credit Opportunities fund, managed by fixed income specialist Ian Spreadbury. The absolute return bond fund went live on 16 May and is available as...

haart calls for more lending for housebuyers.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Falls of up to 10 per cent in house prices across the country are natural corrections of a decade's unsustainable growth, according to independent estate agent haart. Russell Jervis, managing director of haart,...

SVM urges caution over high-yielding portfolios.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Investors looking for an equity income fund should beware of high-yielding portfolios, according to SVM Asset Management. Colin McLean, managing director of SVM, said the share prices of some stocks in sectors such...

Lo stepsintoLai's shoes.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny Louisa Lo is taking over management of a number of Schroder Investment Management's Asia-focused funds following the departure of manager Millicent Lai. Schroders confirmed Ms Lai had left the company "for personal...

Axa criticised over Aim VCT 1 performance.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Axa Framlington has come under fire for the performance of its GBP15.8m Aim VCT 1, which has lost almost half its value since the start of the year. Although Axa's figures indicate a NAV fall of 32 per cent between...

Pictet revamps Telecom fund.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Pictet Funds is overhauling its $101m (GBP51m) Telecom fund, adding a manager, widening the vehicle's remit and renaming it Digital Communications. From 30 June, the new portfolio will comprise 40-60 companies...

Premier splices pair of funds.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan New portfolio will have bias towards UK equities and commodities will make up 40 per cent of fund Premier Asset Management has merged its GBP2.9m Global fund into the GBP24.5m Enterprise vehicle and broadened...

S&P figures show quant funds falling behind.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Gail Moss Firm claims some funds were hit by exposure to underperforming small and mid-cap stocks Nearly every European fund run on a quantitative basis underperformed their peer group in 2007, according to figures from...

Sex and the City in the here and now.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good "The Sex and the City generation is living for today and shirking financial responsibility," according to the latest massive generalisation (sorry, report) from Friends Provident. The firm has found that 7 per cent...

On track for savings with stray cat.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Many Japan managers will tell you the region cannot be understood by taking macro calls. The only way to beat the benchmark is to look for companies which are likely to benefit from a positive change in their...

Walking it off... six months later.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Everyone has regretted something they said the night before, but Angus Duncan, head of distribution at Smith & Williamson Investment Management is still feeling the pain six months on. At around 2am on New Year's...

Surefire way to target investors.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good With record redemptions over recent months, the fund management industry is desperate to coax back investors. Diary believes it may have found the perfect way - by offering customer a free handgun with every...

SWIP calls for IFAs to learn more about property investments.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny Scottish Widow Investment Partnership has called for IFAs to enhance their understanding of direct and indirect property investments through improved education, to better take advantage of both asset classes. A...

Fixed income managers taking on more risk, says S&P.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Managers of US-dollar denominated fixed income funds are taking on more risk across the board, according to Standard & Poor's Fund Services. Lead analyst Guy Boden spoke to a range of managers, who had increased...

Castlestone rolls out Ucits-III version of Aliquot fund.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Alternatives specialist Castlestone Management has launched a Ucits III version of its GBP124.7m Aliquot Commodity fund. The Dublin-listed Aliquot Active Commodity Index fund went live last week. It will closely...

HSBC claims expansion defeating market blues.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Gail Moss Director responsible for fund says he is looking to invest in overseas PFI projects The GBP437.9m HSBC Infrastructure Company has defied the market downturn thanks to the increase in the number of underlying...

Lehmans predicts US heading for 'W curve'.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Unusual performance trajectory caused by Fed's move to encourage consumer spending with stimulus cheques The US is heading for unprecedented 'W-shaped' growth over the next couple of years, which will see "very...

S&P names Schroders and New Star funds as struggling to perform.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny New Star marketing director claims combination of negative market sentiment and underperformance to blame for incease in redemptions European funds run by Schroder Investment Management and New Star Asset Management...

Invesco manager stands by positions in oil and telecoms.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Invesco Perpetual UK equities manager Martin Walker has said he will hold his major positions in oil, pharmaceuticals and telecoms, anticipating a stabilisation in the home market. Mr Walker, who runs Invesco's...

BlackRock sees trend for performance fees.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Nick Rice Firm has no plans to introduce fees on its long-only funds, but predict swing towards incentivisation BlackRock has claimed there is a trend among UK retail funds towards performance fees, following its announcement...

Baillie Gifford rejigs management teams.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Co-mangers join Pacific and European funds, but firm says changes are not performance related Baillie Gifford Investment Management has restructured the management of two of its high-profile funds, but sought to...

Shift from small to mid caps played off.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Laura Mossman Managers who were able to move quickly had best defensive strategy The IMA Europe including UK sector has long attracted criticism for being small and imperfectly formed. Incorporating only a handful of funds, it...

Sector hampers choice.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Chris Traulsen This is one of the IMA's smaller sectors, largely because that local trade association still insists on omitting offshore funds from its classification scheme, although they are working on the issue. There are fewer...

Octopus spreads tentacles with latest VCT launch.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Gail Moss Octopus Investments has launched the Octopus Titan VCT 3, following the successful launch of Octopus Titans 1 and 2 last November. The fund, to be managed by Octopus Ventures, is designed to deliver strong returns to...

New IMA sector sees inflows near GBP160m.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan IMA chief executive welcomes boost to overall fund sales and heralds property funds as seeing return to form The IMA's newly created Absolute Returns sector has seen net retail inflows of nearly GBP160m in the...

Barclays relaunches Defined Returns Plan.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny Barclays Wealth is expanding its range of products available for IFAs by relaunching its Defined Returns Plan. The plan will be split into two distinct investments, and will offer three investment choices in one...

Turner to take charge at the FSA.
June 2, 2008... Byline: James Kenny Adair Turner is to take the helm of the FSA from current chairman Callum McCarthy later this year, the Treasury announced last week. He will take on the new role for a five-year term, beginning in September when Mr...

Pacific trust falls short of benchmark in first quarter.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah The GBP145m Pacific Assets trust undershot its benchmark in the first quarter, despite increasing its gearing and bringing down its discount to net asset value. Fund manager Peter Dalgliesh pumped up borrowing from...

The dangers of getting all heated up.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Philip Coggan Investors should be wary of highly specialised funds as hot funds can be dangerous Idioms are traps for the unwary. Yogi Berra, the US baseball legend, was once approached by a female fan, who said: "Mr Berra,...

Impax records GBP1.3bn under management last month.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Environmental investment specialist Impax Group has seen its assets under management expand over the past year, almost doubling since March 2007. The firm recorded GBP1.3bn under management in May this year, up...

Midas manager ups corporate bond weighting.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Midas Capital multi-asset specialist Alan Borrows has increased his corporate bond weighting for the first time in more than two years, looking to take advantage of widening spreads. Mr Borrows has upped his...

Public opinion and risky assumptions.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Nick Rice Can market research act as a useful tool in informing investment researchers? Fund managers pride themselves on giving their investments a distinctive intellectual stamp. Would many of them be pleased with this...

New Star manager sticks to his guns.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah New Star Asset Management's fund of trusts manager Paul Craig is holding back from making changes on his four portfolios, despite admitting his defensive stance has not protected him from negative returns. Mr Craig...

Barclays waives initial charge on five funds.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Barclays Stockbrokers has announced a special offer on five funds until the end of June, allowing intermediaries and clients to buy in with no initial charge. The GBP1.4bn Aberdeen Asia Pacific, GBP2.4bn Artemis...

JPMorgan's Fish forecasts bottoming out of US economy.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Manager claims US economy experienced similar cycles in equities before The credit crunch is not over but the US economy is bottoming-out, according to the manager of JPMorgan's GBP348.2m American Investment Trust....

GAM rolls out Star Absolute EuroSystematic fund.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan GAM is launching a regulated European absolute returns fund for manager Ross Hollyman and his team GAM Star Absolute EuroSystematic is a Ucits III-compliant vehicle, which can make both long and short...

High oil prices likely to continue, says Fortis.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan The oil price has not been pushed up by speculators and is likely to remain high, Fortis Investments has claimed. Last week, Uwe Beckmeyer, transport chief for Germany's Social Democrats, told Berlin media...

Aifa releases green policy guide.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan The Association of Independent Financial Advisers has urged intermediary firms to improve their green credentials by following its green office policy guide. The guide was published in response to a recent...

Invesco backs Japanese blue chips despite economic strife.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Japanese blue chips are looking "very cheap", despite a number of economic headwinds, Invesco Perpetual has claimed. Paul Chesson, head of Japanese equities and lead manager of the GBP146m Japan fund, said he...

AIC figures show narrowing investment trust discounts.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good The average investment trust discount has narrowed from 10.6 per cent to 8.5 per cent since the beginning of 2008 despite market volatility, figures from the Association of Investment Companies have shown. The...

S&P rolls out two indicies.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans Standard & Poor's has launched two investable indices, intended to provide investors with beta exposure to natural resources and commodities. The S&P Global Natural Resources index offers highly liquid exposure...

FSA opens up disclosure debate.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Watchdog seeks industry opinion on transparency as a form of regulation The FSA is spearheading a debate that could see the levels of disclosure and transparency of firms and industry sectors increased with...

Liontrusts welcomes Fosh.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Julian Fosh to work as co-manager alongside Anthony Cross Liontrust Asset Management has announced its first manager hire in more than two years, with the appointment of Julian Fosh as co-manager alongside...

James Hay launches website for IFAs.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans James Hay Wrap Managers has recently announced the launch of advisercentre, a website aimed at helping professional advisers and their business. The advisercentre offers IFAs monthly video casts, interactive routes...

Charlemagne to launch Middle East and North Africa fund.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Open-ended Ucits III offering will be managed by Gabor Sitanyi and Sharat Dua Emerging markets boutique Charlemagne Capital has revealed intentions to bring a Middle East and North Africa fund to the retail market...

Alliance Trust slashes equity exposure.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah The team behind the GBP2.3bn Alliance Trust has cut the fund's equity exposure and reduced its gearing, concerned over the prospects of weak economic growth and rising inflation. Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief...

SVM fund tipped to weather market storms.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah SVM Asset Management's Colin McLean and Donald Robertson have tipped the private equity portion of their GBP244m Global fund to outperform in turbulent times. A current favourite, the $500m (GBP250m) Bear Stearns...

Insight increases soft commodities exposure.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Managers Armstrong and Cukic raised exposure on Diversified Target Return and Diversified Dynamic Return funds Insight Investment multi-asset managers Patrick Armstrong and Ana Cukic have put more money to work in...

Subcontinental winner.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Jim Robinson The highly trained and highly skilled financial workforce of the Indian subcontinent are playing a pivotal role in the development of the Middle East, but this should be no surprise when stocks are and integral part of...

Germany-listed fund joins iPeit.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good The GBP530m Princess Private Equity trust has become the first Germany-listed fund to become a member of the Initiative for Private Equity Investment Trusts. The investment company is listed in Frankfurt, as well as...

Effecting an ethical change from within.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Stephen Wilmot SVM fund manager Hugh Cuthbert talks to Stephen Wilmot about ethical investing Hugh Cuthbert, manager of the GBP1m SVM All Europe SRI fund, admits socially responsible investing used to be a joke. Some 10 years...

Investment trust discounts narrow despite volatility.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good The average investment trust discount has narrowed from 10.6 per cent to 8.5 per cent since the beginning of 2008 despite market volatility, figures from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) have shown. ...

Invesco.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Japanese blue-chips are looking "very cheap" despite a number of economic headwinds, Invesco Perpetual has claimed. Paul Chesson, head of Japanese equities and lead manager of the GBP146m Japan fund, said he...

S&P launches commodities and natural resources indices.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Ben Evans Standard & Poor's has launched two investable indices, intended to provide investors with beta exposure to natural resources and commodities. The S&P Global Natural Resources index offers highly liquid exposure...

It's all in place for Reit managers to seize the property opportunities.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Nick Rice ING trust maanger Michael Morris talks to Nick Rice about how the sub-prime crisis has upped the appeal of closed-end funds One of the chief strengths of open-ended UK property funds has turned into a weakness over...

Food for thought on inflation.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Jim Leaviss Could rising food prices tip the UK into a recession? Everyone seems to be talking about rising food prices at the moment, but what is the real level of food price inflation? Are the official numbers released by the...

The three options for the Bank of England.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Chris Iggo Inflation has become the new fear in the financial markets, overtaking the credit crunch as the macro-economic dynamic that investors appear to be most concerned about. It is not difficult to see why. Global...

Getting the timing just right.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Paul Mumford Investors would do well to take a bottom-up, rather than a sector, view of the markets for a recovery strategy Investors may feel justified in thinking the second quarter has been little more than a crystallisation...

Exploring new frontiers.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Jim Robinson Investors are increasingly looking to frontier markets amidst more developed economies' market woes As investors are buffeted almost daily by stories forecasting doom and gloom for the developed economies of Europe...

Investing for value.
June 2, 2008... Byline: Meera Patel Benjamin Graham is regarded by many as the father of value investing. He introduced the concept of buying shares that appear undervalued through in-depth analysis of companies. He believed companies that trade below...

Using unity and experience to bounce back.(Interview)
June 2, 2008... Byline: Stephen Wilmot Lord Abbett fund manager Eward Allison talks to Stephen Wilmot about how he has tackled the difficult times over the past year Edward Allinson, manager of the GBP4.9m Lord Abbett European Growth fund, has had a...

Parmenion adds passive funds to range.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Platform service Parmenion Capital Partners has added a range of passive funds to its discretionary management services, to open up a range of low-cost beta products to IFAs and their clients. The passive...

Dalton to flood into emerging markets.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Oliver Shah Firm plans to roll out 15 emerging markets funds for UK retails investors Dalton Strategic Partnership has registered a fleet of emerging markets funds with the Luxembourg regulator, set to go live as and when the...

Parmenion offers low-cost beta products to IFAs.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Catherine Neilan Platform service Parmenion Capital Partners has added a range of passive funds to its discretionary management services, to open up a range of low-cost beta products to IFAs and their clients. The passive...

Correction.(Correction notice)
June 9, 2008... In the 26 May issue of Investment Adviser we published a story in the Diary section, wrongly stating that Cru Investment Management has a direct stake in a lingerie company and a core belief that sex sells. We apologise for these errors and for...

Legg Mason launches emerging markets fund.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Legg Mason Investments has launched its Batterymarch Emerging Markets Equity fund. The Dublin-domiciled vehicle, which is managed by Batterymarch Financial Management, went live on 9 June.

Oranges are not the only fruit.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Jim Robinson Investors looking to play the soft-commodity boom may want to think again, particularly when it comes to high-maintenance citrus fruits. According to a recent survey by market research firm TNS, fewer Brits are...

Sarasin agri-fund launch attracts GBP50m.
June 9, 2008... Byline: Oliver Good Sarasin & Partners' AgriSar fund launch has attracted GBP50m in its first eight weeks. The firm said the fund had been met with strong demand from investors who see it as an entry point to the agri-industry growth...