Investment Adviser articles from May 2003

Investment Adviser archives from May 2003

Hendersons future in question as AMP splits.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2003... Henderson Global Investors may struggle to retain its independence following parent company AMPs decision to create two businesses, said analysts. The group will demerge its financial services and fund management businesses into separate...

Experts praise the fit if Amex tries on Threads; Pundits believe an American Express buy out of Threadneedle would work.
May 6, 2003... By Hayley Frain THE prospect of American Express buying Threadneedle Investments would be the ideal solution for IFAs, according to industry experts. American Express is close to securing a deal to buy Threadneedle, the asset...

Industry faces new mis-selling claims.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2003... By Simoney Girard A NEW wave of mis-selling claims is rolling towards structured product providers, an insurance law firm has warned. Reynolds Porter Chamberlain said when the next batch of three-year products matures the so-called...

Appointments.
May 6, 2003... Bear Stearns International has hired James Moon as senior managing director in its Investment Banking Group. Mr Moon will focus on merger, acquisition and strategic advice to major UK corporations. Jeremy Sillem, chairman of BSIL said: "I am...

Diary.
May 6, 2003... A womans place is in the... Fidelity fund manager Brenda Reed, like many other women, has experienced male prejudice at some point in her career. Back in 1984 when Brenda had just started out at a small fund management firm in the US, a...

More providers join the gold rush.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2003... A SIX-month commodity bond has been launched to tempt high net-worth investors into gambling with gold. Barclays Private Clients is the next in a line of providers going for gold in an effort to win over investors, producing a short-term...

BVCA set to meet Brown to discuss VCT fears.(Biritsh Venture Capital Association and venture capital taxation)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... The British Venture Capital Association is to meet the Chancellor to discuss tax reforms for venture capital trusts next week. The BVCA fears VCT investment could dry up in three to five years and has appealed to Gordon Brown, urging him to...

Bad health sees Bacon bow out from Threads; Barrie Whitman and David Oliphant set to take charge of Bacon's two funds.
May 12, 2003... By Gabriela Pomeroy Threadneedle has been dealt a blow as one of its top managers has been forced to retire due to ill health. Ted Bacon is one of the most experienced managers at Threadneedle, having been there for nearly 20 years....

Gam pushes fifth trading hedge fund.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard Global Asset Management has launched its fifth fund of hedge funds investing in a basket of trading funds. Gam Trading V selects a range of trading hedge funds globally, looking for the managers with the best approach...

Appointments.
May 12, 2003... Baring Asset Management has hired Ivka Kalus-Bystricky as an investment manager to its US office in Boston. Ms Kalus-Bystricky joins from Independence Investments, where she was a European equity portfolio manager. She has also worked for...

Iimia invests in scandal-hit splits; Splits have been castigated unfairly, claims Daniel Lockyer.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... BY hayley frain A FIFTH of the Iimia Accelerated fund is invested in splits, a sector recently hit by scandal. For example, the Aberdeen-managed Murray Global Return Zero Dividend Preference Share is the fund?s eighth largest holding...

Budge boosts holdings in pharmaceuticals giant.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... THE manager of the Personal Assets Investment trust has increased its exposure to Glaxosmithkline following its ?bad run? last year. Steven Budge, manager of the GBP106m Personal Assets Investment trust, increased the fund?s exposure to...

Pacific ex Japan region lifted by Sars.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... THE Sars virus has provided good buying opportunities in the Pacific ex Japan region, according to Henderson. James Robinson, manager of the Witan Investment trust, has raised the fund?s exposure to the Pacific ex Japan region from 1 per...

French fancy for fund managers; Managers believe France may be bullish as the CAC40 index bounces through the 3000 mark.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard France may be ripe for an investor invasion as its markets bounced through 3000 last week, fund managers claimed. David Franklin, director of Christows stockbrokers and fund managers, said France looked promising,...

Hedges double as savers seek safety.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Global hedge fund inflows doubled in the first quarter of 2003, compared with the previous quarter. This is according to data from Boston-based LJH Global Investments. The researchers claimed that investors seeking safety during the...

Economy is caught in growth recession trap.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Growth recession will dominate the world economy in 2003, according to Pimco. Lee Thomas, managing director of the Pacific Investment Management Company, has described a growth recession as half way between recession and expansion. He...

Splits payout opens door to further claims; Floodgates open for claims after IFA agreed to compensate splits victim.
May 12, 2003... by Dan Bloch IFAS could be faced with a raft of further claims for compensation in the wake of the splits crisis. The news follows claims from a solicitor representing a client whose IFA decided to compensate a victim of splits that...

Swiss Life picks up tab for private equity arm.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... SWISS Life is cracking the whip over a private equity subsidiary after it failed to make the investment grade. Private Equity Holdings, the listed company of Swiss Life Private Equity Partners, reported the value of its investments fell...

David Aaron backs commercial property.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard COMMERCIAL property is an investment opportunity for UK investors, according to the David Aaron Partnership. The IFA firm stated investors would benefit from the returns and manageability of many commercial property...

Drug firms give Baring fund a shot in the arm; Pharmaceutical manufacturers boost Bockstaller's Emerging European portfolio.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Gabriela Pomeroy Contraception and ?blockbuster antibiotics? are key themes in the GBP100m Baring Emerging Europe trust. Klaus Bockstaller, manager of the fund, said three of his most promising stocks were central European drugs...

Selestia increases choice as it adds further funds.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Selestia, the online provider of fund solutions for IFAs, has added funds to its platform. The funds are the Aegon European Bond, First State Corporate Bond, First State Cash and Morley Higher Income Property funds. Bill...

Schroder to expand alternative division.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Schroder Investment Management is set to expand its alternative asset divisions with key product launches. Its private equity management group has launched its second private equity fund of funds worth GBP250m, while its hedge fund team,...

Nvesta launches a brace of FTSE-linked growth plans.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Pep and Isa manager Nvesta, part of privately-owned Eurolife, is launching two six-year index-tracker investment plans. The quad tracker plan 2 offers four times the growth in the FTSE100, with a maximum return of the original capital, plus...

Bright Capital widens Old Mut's hedge range; Fund of hedge funds manager likely to widen access to the hedge industry.
May 12, 2003... By Lee Levitt Old Mutual has launched Bright Capital, a fund of hedge funds manager, which claims to have an industry-beating risk-control mechanism. The asset management subsidiary is aimed at broadening Old Mutual?s alternative...

China needs to follow same path, says Young.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... The continuation of market-orientated policies by China?s new government would ensure China stands out in Asia, according to Hugh Young. Mr Young, manager of the GBP60m Dublin-domiciled Ucits Aberdeen International China Opportunities...

Russell goes shopping to slash cash holding; Manager buys into the market to reduce the fund's 40 per cent cash holding.
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard Tim Russell, manager of Cazenove?s UK Growth & Income fund, is buying stocks to reduce his GBP42m cash holding. The four-month-old fund generated a rush of new money as IFAs such as Hargreaves Lansdown recommended...

NSI raises premium bond limit.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Investors can increase their holdings in National Savings and Investments premium bonds to GBP30,000. Investors who increase their holdings from 1 June to GBP30,000 could win up to 12 tax-free prizes a year, while someone who has the...

Old Mut and Hornbuckle come together on the road.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Gabriela Pomeroy Old Mutual-owned Selestia and Sipp provider Hornbuckle Mitchell are to stage joint pension roadshows across the country. The road shows kick off in London on 19 May and will hone in on Sipps and the building of...

Pima calls for retirement Isas.(Personal Equity Plans and Investment Savings Accounts Managers Association)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... FUND managers have renewed their calls for the government to introduce a lifetime or retirement Isa as part of the Sandler programme. According to the Pep and Isa Managers? Association (Pima), the Isa would be a wrapper with the tax...

Firms bolster UK warrants range.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... THE UK covered warrants market is building up its coverage of investment vehicles for retail investors. In addition to its gold and oil commodity warrants it issued earlier this year, investment bank Goldman Sachs has issued a range of...

BC rejects manager's offer in favour of ING; BC Asset mulls over ING's offer for the remaining Property & Income trust.
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard BC Asset Management has climbed down on its refusal to consider ING?s offer for its last split cap investment trust. The Property Income & Growth trust, domiciled in Guernsey, had received offers from its own...

US hopes see Threads leaning to financials.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Threadneedle Investments is hoping for a US-led recovery. It has cut back on energy stocks in the UK Growth fund in the wake of the Iraq war, in favour of financials, and what it regards as recovery stocks. Forsyth McGarrity, manager...

Isis takes the initiative over the issue of initial charging.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Simoney GIrard Isis Asset Management is hoping its policy of withholding initial charges when reinvesting income into funds will become industry-wide. Jason Hollands, director and head of strategy and communication for Isis, said it...

Future plans Moore flicks.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Future Films, the structured products provider for film finance, is to launch a new round of feature financings. The first will be for the GBP28m romantic comedy Laws of Attraction, starring Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan. It is the...

Reaction too negative over Sars outbreak, says Parks.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Invesco Perpetual?s Stuart Parks said he ?reacted too negatively? to the Sars outbreak after trimming and selling six stocks. Mr Parks, who manages the Invesco Perpetual Pacific fund reduced the number of stocks in the portfolio from 130 to...

Pictet defends its 50% fund stance in Russia; Emerging European manager believes Russia to be a fast improving region.
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard Pictet Asset Management has developed a Russian love affair, claiming it is one of the world?s fastest improving regions. On the eve of St Petersburg?s 300th anniversary, John-Paul Smith, head of emerging markets and...

SocGen cuts cash levels in Tech fund by half.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... SG Asset Management?s Alan Torry and Hugh Grieves have cut cash levels in the SocGen Technology fund by 50 per cent. Mr Torry, head of US equities and technology for SGAM, and Mr Grieves, manager of the SocGen Technology fund, reduced their...

Everly trims tech and turns to value.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Dan Bloch Credit Suisse Asset Management has trimmed back its technology sector holding in the GBP382.4m Transatlantic fund. Its manager is looking for specific stocks that have scope to gain value from restructuring. Susan...

Hambro unveils two pan-European funds; Two European fund launches from Hambro include UK in European investment.
May 12, 2003... By Simoney Girard JO Hambro Capital Management has launched two European funds which include UK investment. The group believes the new funds will encourage investors to consider the UK as integral to European investment. Rod...

Bonds shine in IA's latest Bestseller list.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Nine out of 20 funds in Investment Adviser?s new Bestsellers list are bond funds. But the number one fund was stalwart Fidelity Special Situations run by Anthony Bolton. Retail sales in the UK Corporate Bond sector reached GBP88m in the...

L&G makes things simpler.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Exclusive By Simoney Girard Legal & General has radically simplified its with profits bond statements. The new-style statements explain how smoothing works, reveal the performance of the underlying investments and what effect this...

House slump hits optimistic outlook; UK housing market stalls as the FTSE continues to rally.
May 12, 2003... The FTSE?s climb to 4000 points last week brought a much-needed dose of optimism to the UK market. Coupled with the 10 per cent bounce in equities over the past three months, people are hoping the worst is over. It would, nevertheless, be...

Sector suffers at debt's hands.
May 12, 2003... Funds in the UK Equity & Bond Income sector offer investors exposure to both UK equities and UK fixed interest securities. It comprises funds which invest at least 80 per cent of their assets in the UK, between 20 and 80 per cent in UK fixed...

OLD MUTUAL EXTRA INCOME FUND: Mid caps come to Old Mut Extra?s aid.
May 12, 2003... The volatility of the equity markets over the past 12 months has hit the UK Equity & Bond Income sector hard. Over the 12 month period to 30 April 2003 the sector contracted by 16.25 per cent, according to Standard & Poor?s, offer-to-bid, net...

OLD MUTUAL EXTRA INCOME FUND: Manager Comment.
May 12, 2003... I have been lead fund manager of the Old Mutual Extra Income fund since its launch in October 1994. Suresh Sadasivan assists me with the running of the fund. Part of the portfolio is in fixed interest, about 24 per cent in investment grade...

BoE snubs CBI's call for rates cut.(Bank of England and the Confederation of British Industry)
May 12, 2003... The Bank of England did not give in to pressures from the Confederation of British Industry last week, when it decided to keep interest rates on hold at 3.75 per cent. The CBI had argued for a cut in interest rates to boost a weakening...

DEWHIRST'S VIEW: Delegation is what you need.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Basically, the UK Equity & Bond Income sector is about delegating the big asset allocation decision to the fund manager, as it is one of the few where managers are not tied down to a specific brief. However, in practice few fund managers...

FT Fund Ratings: UK Equity & Bond.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Investment Adviser?s Fund Ratings service provides detailed RCP (Risk, Charge, Performance) ratings on authorised UK unit trusts, investment trusts and Oeics. We show Risk, Charge and Performance ratings where available for all funds. Where no...

The loneliness of a long-term investor; The majority of investors are now coming to regard the short-term as being the long-term.
May 12, 2003... The degree of capital security, the quality of the yield, and time ? are three fundamental elements of any investment. Although all three are understood by those who manage investments or advise clients on them, retail investors are still...

Time for investors to tread the third way; As an alternative to equities government bonds are similar to corporate bonds, but they seem to have been largely ignored by the investing public.
May 12, 2003... Whether investing in the UK equity market or in funds with international equity exposure, the past three years have been extremely difficult for the average equity investor. Negative returns from equity-based funds of more than 50 per cent...

This model life.
May 12, 2003... Despite the end of the war in Iraq, with the global economic outlook still looking grim, many investors could be forgiven for staying away from stock markets altogether. However, conventional wisdom dictates that shares will eventually recover,...

Investors need to hedge to avoid inflation; Investors would do well to hedge against inflation, but which alternative is best?
May 12, 2003... Over the last few years, everyone has been worrying about deflation. The prospect of US and European economies following Japan into a period of falling prices has prompted investors to switch from equities into bonds. But what if we have...

Room for bonds and Mr Bolton.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Bond funds are pre-eminent in these nervous times, but investors still enjoy a punt, according to Investment Adviser?s latest Best Sellers survey in this week?s issue (see pull out). Our special quarterly survey of the best selling funds...

Shifting yardsticks add to investor fears; Traditional yardsticks of a fund's success have now become irrelevant.
May 12, 2003... The pseudonymous Adam Smith wrote in The Money Game: ?If you don?t know who you are, the stock market is an expensive place to find out?. At the moment, many investors are in a process akin to deep Jungian analysis as they are made to...

The bonds that fell off the precipice.
May 12, 2003... Precipice bonds are the latest mis-selling scare to rattle the cage of the investment sector. Of course they were not called precipice bonds when they were first launched. They had attractive names such as Stock Market Growth Bond or Escalator...

Standard aims for high yields with Select Income fund; New corporate bond fund will be run by Standard stalwart Andrew Sutherland.
May 12, 2003... New fund launches have been scarce. In fact, the news flow this year is more likely to be about fund mergers and closures. One group, however, that is bucking the trend is Standard Life ? particularly in the area of fixed interest. Their AAA...

People are going to question if they need so many funds; Helen Delaney speaks to Paul Feeney, head of UK retail marketing at Gartmore Investment Management, about rationalising the unit trust range, the changes he has made in the past 12 months and ?star? fund managers.(Interview)
May 12, 2003... Investment Adviser: Why did you decide to convert your unit trust range into an Oeic? Paul Feeney: When I joined Gartmore in February 2002, the company was running 55 unit trusts. One of our big clients said to me: ?The last thing you need...

Research scandal shatters trust; Investors' fragile confidence has suffered further damage on the back of the McKinsey report into investment research.
May 12, 2003... At the peak of the bull market in 1999, the average investor was becoming increasingly confident about taking risks with the stock market. This was in part boosted by the amount of material published by analysts and their recommended buys. ...

Research changes need to be made.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... The report by McKinsey & Company has highlighted the failure of research to boost profits for asset management firms. It goes on to say that with increasing pressures on these companies to improve profitability, changes would have to be made....

Isa loss may boost Sipps, says Baillie; Removal of tax credit from Isas in 2004 set to benefit Sipps.(investment savings accounts and self invested pension plans)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... By Holly Thomas The loss of the Isa tax credit could increase the attraction of Sipps, according to Baillie Gifford. The fund manager claimed that the removal of the 10 per cent tax credit to come into force in 2004, will prompt...

NU apologises over group pension withdrawl error.(Norwich Union PLC)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Norwich Union apologised for mistakenly removing an entire group pension premium from a single policyholder?s account. A lump sum of GBP700 was taken erroneously by Norwich Union from the client?s bank account. According to IFA Richard...

Cap charge comes under fire.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... The industry is calling for the government to reconsider capping Ron Sandler?s stakeholder-style products at 1 per cent. In its response to the consultation, the Association of British Insurers warned the government against capping charges...

Fidelity takes the top spot; Geopolitical uncertainty dogged the markets in the first quarter of 2003, but what can investors expect as we enter the year's second quarter?
May 12, 2003... As 2002 drew to a close, potential military conflict in Iraq was at the forefront of everybody?s minds, including the market. While people around the globe crossed their fingers that 2003 would be more fruitful financially than the previous 12...

Home, sweet home; With the market at its most volatile in years, investors are making a move back home and shunning global sectors.
May 12, 2003... In the wake of the longest bear market for a generation, the obvious ?safe? sectors for troubled investors have made it to the top of Investment Adviser?s list of bestselling funds once again. Both the UK Equity Income and UK Corporate Bond...

Shift from equities continues.
May 12, 2003... During the first quarter of 2003, corporate bond funds continued to be the most favoured sector among investors, reflecting the wider market?s sustained flight away from equities. Both Standard Life and Jupiter (managed by, Lipper Citywire Star...

Keep a finger in the equities pie; Investors should be aware that "safe havens" are not completely risk-free.
May 12, 2003... On the whole, many people used their mini cash Isas in 2002/03, but decided against maximising their allowance through use of the stocks and shares. Like many other IFAs, we are finding that investors are still understandably nervous about...

Take off those rose-tinted glasses; The weather is more likely to be brighter than business this summer.
May 12, 2003... Not for the first time I find myself casting back to my previous two articles for the Investment Adviser Bestsellers survey and find basically that little has changed. Investor confidence in both the equity markets and financial product...

Debt provides a good return; If a global recovery happens, equities will feel the effects faster than most.
May 12, 2003... Gilt yields continued to fall at the beginning of the year suggesting that they may well be fully valued. I, therefore, favour corporate bonds above sovereign debt. Richard Woolnough, the manager of the Old Mutual Corporate Bond fund, has...

Escaping the herd mentality; Though times are gloomy, structured products are offering opportunities.
May 12, 2003... Although the spread of funds through providers has changed very little since the fourth quarter of 2002, investment volumes have dropped. This mirrors trends across the industry where widespread falls in retail sales have been experienced in...

Time to start spring cleaning; Investors need to rejig their portfolios to benefit from equity returns.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... Making the call between equities and bonds at the current time is near impossible and although we have seen a small rally in recent weeks, the overall economic situation is still uncertain. It is for this reason that the New Star Managed...

Protection is the key; Investors are holding out for a turnaround in market conditions.
May 12, 2003... During the past three months of market uncertainty, we have seen numerous investors still holding significant sums in cash deposits until the markets show a clearer direction as to where they will go. Due to this uncertainty we have witnessed a...

Bond trend keeps lingering on; Geopolitical situations will continue to have a big influence on markets.(Brief Article)
May 12, 2003... We do expect a change in the list of best selling funds for the rest of 2003. The first quarter activity always includes a larger amount of pensions and corporate- related business than the remaining three quarters of the year. For the...

Finding the right ingredients; Day-to-day equities volatility is causing investors to shy away from them.
May 12, 2003... The relentless bear market kept investors teeth firmly gripped during the first quarter of 2003, biting into both their existing portfolios and their psyche. Equities still remain unattractive to most clients because of their unprecedented...

Diversification is the solution; Is adopting the hybrid approach the best way to obtain exposure?
May 12, 2003... Bates? Top Fund Sales list once again shows a broad spread of sectors, which is very much what I would expect. There will always be a marked difference between the bestsellers of an advice-led IFA and those of, for example, a discount broker....