Investment Adviser articles from September 2004

Investment Adviser archives from September 2004

Pick small-caps wisely: managers.
September 6, 2004... INVESTORS in small-caps need to be more discerning, say fund managers. Marina Bond, co-manager with Carl Stick of the AGBP42m Rathbone Smaller Companies fund, felt valuations were attractive but said: "You must look for companies with...

Friendly set to run child trust fund.
September 6, 2004... HOMEOWNERS Friendly Society is set to be among the first set of providers to offer a child trust fund. The Harrogate-based provider has bought software from Wealth Management Software which is capable of administering the new child trust...

David M Aaron group banned from trading.
September 6, 2004... FAMILY-run IFA David M Aaron (Personal Financial Planners) Ltd was last week the first intermediary company to be banned for mis-selling. The Financial Services Authority banned the group from trading after mis-selling precipice bonds to...

Troubled IFA caught out by FSA review.
September 6, 2004... DAVID M Aaron (Personal Financial Planners) Ltd was founded in 1971 by David Aaron, his wife and two sons. The IFA, based in Milton Keynes, had a mailing list of about 160,000 individuals. Potential customers were targeted through...

IFA debate set for Expo.
September 6, 2004... The Prospects for IFAs will dominate the Financial Ad-viser's annual Expo trade fair in association with Investment Adviser. More than 1600 advisers have signed up to the Expo at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate on 30 September and...

Apcims' laundering talks.
September 6, 2004... LEADING industry bodies have been working together to protect investors against money laundering. The Association of Private Client Investment Managers, the Investment Managers' Association and the Association of IFAs have been liaising to...

Hedges dip blamed on inertia in markets.
September 6, 2004... SIDEWAYS moving markets have been the main cause of the dip in hedge fund performance this year, according to Tremont. According to Tremont Capital Management, which manages AGBP6.7bn of hedge fund assets and runs a series of hedge fund...

Commercial to be top property area.
September 6, 2004... COMMERCIAL property should be the next area of investment for those that have tired of the buy-to-let market. According to Hotbed, the property and private equity network which invests in property, commercial bricks-and-mortar offer a more...

Norwich's US bonds to go to Boston division.
September 6, 2004... MORLEY has taken the management of US fixed interest within the AGBP114.9m Norwich Managed High Income fund away from its UK bond team. Responsibility for managing US investment grade and high-yield bonds will be passed to the small Morley...

Artemis Aims to boost its presence.
September 6, 2004... Artemis said it expected more competition in the venture capital trust market as it prepared the launch of its second such fund. Artemis's Aim VCT 2 will launch in early October at about the same time as a host of other VCT launches from...

Pegrum takes Aim route at Cazenove.
September 6, 2004... NEIL Pegrum will include Aim stocks in his new Cazenove fund which launches on 30 September. The news came as the asset manager's parent, Cazenove, received a takeover bid for its business from Lehman Brothers last week. Mr Pegrum will...

Unicorn concentrates on gaining a VCT edge.
September 6, 2004... A CONCENTRATED portfolio is one area where Unicorn hopes to differentiate itself in the VCT market, according to its manager. With a host of VCT launches coming up over the autumn, Unicorn fund manager Sean O'Flanagan said that the...

Investec's quintet hold onto S&P A-ratings.
September 6, 2004... Five of Investec's global equity funds have retained A-rating from Standard & Poor's, despite their previous managers leaving the company in July. The funds were put under review by the ratings agency following the departure of Nick...

New Star's fledglings slash speciality stocks.
September 6, 2004... New Star's three newest managers are cutting exposure to speciality finance in response to unfavourable macro-economic outlook for the sector. In the six months since the three managers took over small retail portfolios, they have each...

Aberdeen World shuns US for Asia.
September 6, 2004... Aberdeen Asset Management has cut US exposure in its World Equity fund and is favouring Asia. Since the end of July, Stephen Docherty, manager of the AGBP140m fund, has cut its US weighting from 34 per cent to about 30 per cent, against a...

Schroder seeks a new Gilt manager.
September 6, 2004... Schroder is looking to recruit a new manager for its Gilt & Fixed Interest fund after Andrew Argyle's decision to leave the company. Mr Argyle, who has been managing the AGBP182.9m fund since January 2001, is leaving to take up a sales...

Japan means Bedlam becomes a gang of four.
September 6, 2004... BEDLAM Asset Management is to launch its Japan fund on 11 October expanding its fund range to four. Ian McCullen, director of Bedlam, will manage the fund, which will start taking money a week earlier, on 4 October. Mr McCullen is...

Demand is increasing for FoF and MoM funds.
September 6, 2004... Multi-managed products in the UK and across the world experienced record new inflows in 2003, according to Cerulli Associates. The Global Multimanager Products 2004 report, from Cerulli Associates, showed that the global marketplace for...

Lang becomes less defensive.
September 6, 2004... LIONTRUST First Growth's Jeremy Lang has adopted a less defensive outlook ahead of the fund's next quarterly review in October. Jonathan Harbottle, marketing director for Liontrust, said that while the AGBP244.5m fund had experienced a...

Coverage offering quantity and quality.
September 6, 2004... Investment Adviser's new multi-manager page will each week offer an in depth round up of this burgeoning market. As well as major news, we will analyse one of the four Trustnet multi-manager sectors. Unlike other fund classifications, these...

Multi-managers await stars' plans.
September 6, 2004... Fund of funds managers are awaiting launches from star managers Clive Beagles, Neil Pegrum and David Mitchinson in the next quarter. The heads of multi-manager products have been meeting with Mr Mitchinson, newly appointed at JPMorgan...

Asian tech downturn hits fund performance.
September 6, 2004... Asian technology stocks have been a key area of fund manager contention, as most cut their holdings after a rough quarter. A minority, however, have tried to ride through the poor performance in the hope that it is no more than a market...

First State's Lau confident over the Chinese economy.
September 6, 2004... First State's Martin Lau remains upbeat about China's prospects, focusing on consumption-related stocks. The manager of the onshore AGBP25.7m Greater China Growth fund moved over to such stocks last October, after selling off commodities...

Currie soft closes Daijiro hedge.
September 6, 2004... Martin Currie has launched and closed new investment to its latest hedge fund offering. As predicted by Ross Leckie, head of marketing at Martin Currie two weeks ago, the company has now raised enough in commitments to the Daijiro Absolute...

Asia tipped as prime bet by City.
September 6, 2004... Fund managers of the Dublin-based sub-fund Barry Olliff and Christopher Weaver, said the team had been trying to reduce its position in Asia following currency weakness in Korea and concerns over the rising price of oil imports. However,...

Pension forecasts called for as lifespans rise: PPI.
September 6, 2004... INVESTORS need better information on how long a pension would have to last, according to the Pensions Policy Institute. In a briefing note, the PPI said: "It would be helpful to give people information on the number of years a pension is...

Standard may be last to re-enter Section 32 field.
September 6, 2004... STANDARD Life looks likely to be the last provider to re-enter the Section 32 pension market. A Section 32 product is used to transfer benefits from an old occupational scheme into a private arrangement. From the lump sum invested, the...

MW Pensions turns to Pointon over Sipp.
September 6, 2004... MW PENSIONS has brought on board Pointon York Sipp Solutions as its computer system was unable to handle its Sipp. Marion Fawshaw, one of four directors at Liverpool-based independent pensions trustee administrator MW Pensions, said the...

Portfolio revamp helps Nimmo in risk control.
September 6, 2004... An overhaul of the AGBP64.8m Edinburgh Small Companies trust has helped control risk and volatility in the portfolio, according to its manager. Announcing results to the end of June, the trust said that although performance had dropped...

IA increases its specialist coverage.
September 6, 2004... INVESTMENT Adviser this week ups its multi-manager coverage. We will be providing weekly coverage of this growing area of IFA business in a new format. Alongside all the coverage of events affecting funds of funds and manager of manager...

Discount plans will have to rise -- Close.
September 6, 2004... Investment trusts will have to introduce discount protection schemes in the face of rising competition, according to Close Finsbury. Nick Train, investment manager of the AGBP81.5m Close Finsbury Growth & Income trust, said that the latest...

Second Scottish National to offer closure alternatives.
September 6, 2004... The Second Scottish National trust will offer two rollover options for shareholders before winding up. The AGBP138.4m UK growth and income trust run by Gartmore has a fixed life and is due to end on 31 October. The board has now...

Woolwich plans FTSE hedge index linked fund.
September 6, 2004... Woolwich Plan Managers plan to tap into growing interest in hedge funds with a protected plan for retail investors. It said its Protected FTSE Hedge Plan would be open to investors from as little as AGBP3000 and will meet the needs of the...

Cramped UK markets boost foreign investing.
September 6, 2004... SEVERAL UK income fund managers are looking overseas to generate better returns for investors. Baillie Gifford, Isis and Gartmore income managers have been using the flexibility allowed under IMA rules to buy European issues. Stephen...

2005 US outlook strong: DWS.
September 6, 2004... DWS Investments said US prospects were strong for 2005. In its latest market report, Steven Bell, global chief economist for DWS, said that given the Federal Reserve's "ultra-stimulative monetary policy" which led to strong growth, the...

Oil, gas bias to grow SVM fund.
September 6, 2004... SVM's AGBP1.3m Continental Europe fund will continue to grow through overweight holdings in oil and gas and telecommunications, according to its manager. Paul Casson said that the fund was now 50 per cent overweight in oil and gas stocks...

Europe, UK top of CFA exam rates.
September 6, 2004... EUROPEAN fund managers are steaming ahead with the highest worldwide CFA exam pass rate, says the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. Candidates from Europe gained a 75 per cent pass rate compared with a worldwide average of 64 per...

FSA turns heavy with IFAs despite admin error.
September 6, 2004... Nearly 40 IFA companies have been told to pay their FSA and FSCS fees immediately, despite not having received their invoices. The Financial Services Authority said 38 companies had not received their invoices, but it still ordered them to...

IFAs turn to the exotic -- Forsyth.
September 6, 2004... IFAs are turning their attention to global emerging markets, but this has yet to be reflected in sales, latest statistics suggest. Ratings agency Forsyth Partners has noted a marked increase in advisers' research into more "exotic" sectors...

Boutiques are on the rise among IFAs.
September 6, 2004... IFAs are increasingly exploring funds offered by smaller investment houses and companies employing a boutique culture. According to Forsyth OBSR, intermediaries have been displaying a growing interest in lesser known houses and boutiques,...

US managers set to stay cautious.
September 6, 2004... US fund managers are staying cautious ahead of this year's presidential election. The economy was more important to asset allocation than the likely impact of a Bush or Kerry victory, they said. Gil Knight, senior fund manager of...

Far East faces oil danger -- Baillie.
September 6, 2004... The rising price of oil may hit the Far East's recovery, according to managers of the AGBP67.4m Baillie Gifford Pacific fund. Managers Gerald Smith and Mark Robertson had invested in Chinese oil stocks earlier this year, including Cnooc at...

Second Isis manager exits as merger nears.
September 6, 2004... Isis Asset Management has lost another manager as the deadline to the October merger with F&C draws nearer. Richard Stevens, lead manager of the AGBP34m Isis Global Bond fund, has handed in his notice. This came a week after David...

Invesco to seek Hong Kong, China manager.
September 6, 2004... Invesco Perpetual is scouting for a new manager for its AGBP58m Hong Kong and China fund. This follows reports that lead manager Billy Chan was asked to step down from the fund after he told clients he was leaving to become part of a joint...

Abbey unveils Growth Option plan.
September 6, 2004... Abbey for Intermediaries has launched a new structured product to reap capital gains tax benefits. Under Abbey's Growth Option plan, which will launch on 13 September, investments will be subject to CGT rather than income tax. Abbey said...

Schroder, Merrill plan property feeder funds.
September 6, 2004... By Simoney Girard Property managers are developing closed-ended feeder funds to allow UK investors tax-efficient access to offshore funds. Schroder Property Invest-ment Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers are in...

He does whatever a spider can.
September 6, 2004... Peter Parker, orphaned at an early age grew up as a shy bespectacled boy with a talent for maths and science. Then one day he was bitten by a radioactive spider and became the Spider-man we all love today. Diary is excited to report that the...

If only Arnie would say what he thinks.
September 6, 2004... Compared to his super-peers, such as the Hulk, or the dark and brooding Batman, Spider-man is something of a gay superhero, in brightly patterned spandex with a chorus-line TV theme tune. But is he an economic bear? In a speech last week at the...

An adviser went to sea, sea, sea...
September 6, 2004... And finally, from one superhero to another. Oliver Tregoning, head of European marketing with Boston-based MFS Investment Management has decided to take to "a life on an ocean wave". Oliver is joining the world's toughest yacht race, becoming a...

Standard to change charges on bonds.
September 6, 2004... STANDARD Life is to change the charging structures on all its bonds to meet Raising Standards requirements. From 13 September, the provider is to change the charging structures on its Capital Investment, Distribution and With Profits...

Soros in reefer madness scare.
September 6, 2004... While still on the Republican National, it was a case of dodge the insults. The US House Speaker, Dennis Hastert -- showing his deep understanding of financial markets -- accused George Soros, head of the 10th largest hedge-fund company in the...

Getting the message across.
September 6, 2004... Investment Adviser: You are a small house; could you trace the background of Glasgow Investment Managers? Mike Balfour: David Williams, who used to work for Murray Johnson, set up Glasgow Investment Managers in 1986. He retired in May this...

Investec gets nod to merge Select to Oeic.
September 6, 2004... Investec has been given the go-ahead to merge several of its Dublin-based Select funds into its UK Oeic. Four new funds will be marketed to UK investors and advisers with Investec planning to make the newly UK-domiciled funds available...

The consumer is a resilient breed.
September 6, 2004... Six months ago I noted that while gilts were unattractive, our economy was in good shape and the outlook benign. However, back then, because of the struggling profitability of pharmaceuticals, oils and technology companies, I was sympathetic to...

Keep the fundamentalists at bay.
September 6, 2004... One debate that often rages among investment folk relates to market analysis. There are essentially two schools. Fundamentalists hold that careful study of macroeconomic conditions and quantitative information on securities -- stuff relating to...

Taking a Sipp from a forgotten vintage.
September 6, 2004... Around six years ago I was casting round for a fund to transfer my Serps entitlement into. In truth it was frustrating as access is denied to so many of the top performing funds. Few small invested personal pensions, for example, offer any...

Don't let retail hedge fears in.
September 6, 2004... It comes as no surprise that retail investors have a common goal in that they want to preserve capital and achieve stable positive returns. A simple solution is available through market neutral risk-averse hedge funds, however current...

All property is investment.
September 6, 2004... The government's proposal for a new form of property fund is an important development for the retail investment market. If the new funds are anything like as popular as similar vehicles in many other countries, they will be come a widely used...

Pointing the finger in the wrong direction.
September 6, 2004... UK pension funds, notably the defined benefits schemes, have been selling UK equities for over a decade, but only in the past few years has there been widespread concern that this is a major source of bear market pressure. It clearly has not...

It's more than just doing it for the kids.
September 6, 2004... Between January and March next year, the first group of children -- approximately 1.7m babies and toddlers throughout the UK -- will take delivery of a voucher worth AGBP250 or AGBP500 from the government to put towards their future. This first...

Trying to get on the first step.
September 6, 2004... Crispin DeLacey is a first jobber, having left university in September 2003. He went back home to live with his parents while applying for a job. He has been offered a position in Reading with a firm of architects. Mr DeLacey is currently...

Disillusioned Frost sees hope within junk bonds.
September 6, 2004... There are no depths to which his fund will not go, in terms of bonds, according to Artemis's Adrian Frost . The manager of the AGBP221.5m Artemis High Income fund, who celebrates his two-year anniversary in charge this week, said too often...

Having fun now, but also aware of the future.
September 6, 2004... Stelios Demetriou is 35-years old, single and self-employed. He runs a professional mobile vehicle cleaning company. He has bought a one-bedroom flat in a residential complex in north west London. As he is self-employed, his earnings...

August gold price drop due to terror.
September 6, 2004... Increased buying of long gold futures and options helped push up the price of the precious metal at the end of August. The move came in anticipation of a rise in the spot price prompted by the terrorist incidents in Israel and Russia, and...

Educational fears.
September 6, 2004... Miles Gallagher is a 55-years-old senior sales director of a Sheffield-based steel company. He is married with two teenage children. He has been with the same firm since he started working, but is now taking early retirement. He has two teenage...

Learning from the mistakes of others.
September 6, 2004... The events in the currency markets, and asset markets generally, between 1995 and 1998 are probably as perfect an example of an echo bubble emerging in financial markets as could be imagined. An echo bubble is a subsequent market bubble that...

An eagle out of the ashes?
September 6, 2004... If one were to think of an analogy for the S&P Equity North America sector, it would be of a burning farmstead on the prairies following some kind of natural disaster. But, according to the Federal Reserve monetary policy report to the US...

US funds keep their value.
September 6, 2004... By Gail Moss Despite the turbulence of the US economy and the resultant decline in the dollar over the past year, the top 20 North American funds have generated inflation plus returns. The top 20 funds in the Equity North America...

High cash levels keep North Am positive.
September 6, 2004... The AGBP180.7m Gam North America Growth fund was launched on 2 January 1985 and is managed by Gordon Grender. The fund is benchmarked to the Russell2000 and S&P500 indices in sterling and its key objective is to generate capital appreciation...

US elections: cut to the chase.
September 6, 2004... "It's the economy, stupid". Wise words from James Carville, political strategist to Bill Clinton in the US election campaign some 12 years ago. Now, in electoral terms, this may no longer be so true, given that foreign concerns have taken pole...

Manager Comment - Gordon Grender.
September 6, 2004... I HAVE run this fund since its inception in January 1985. I also manage two other Gam funds -- the AGBP87.5m Gam Star America fund and the AGBP18.6m GAmerica Capital fund. The fund strategy is all-cap, although the approach of searching...

Aggression proves key to the sector.
September 6, 2004... As with many other fund sectors, the S&P North America sector as a whole has made negative returns over the past three-and-half years, on a risk-adjusted basis. As shown in the table, most funds in the sector have a US aggressive risk...

Life bonds are another string to an IFA's bow.
September 6, 2004... Despite healthy numbers of glossy adverts and a continual flow of new marketing campaigns arriving on advisers' desks, the number of new product launches in the IFA sector has slowed considerably. Given so much change and uncertainty, this is...

MLIM uses cash bet over macros.
September 6, 2004... CAREFUL attention to cash-generating stocks will help sift the chaff from the wheat this year, according to Merrill Lynch. Chris Littlejohns, lead fund manager on the AGBP193m MLIM Income Portfolio, has been looking for companies in the UK...

Invesco targets Aim for profits.
September 6, 2004... The Invesco Perpetual Aim VCT was launched on 3 August with a view to raise AGBP40m. Although the initial closing date is 30 September, there is a possibility that it might be extended, according to the company. The Invesco Perpetual Aims...

Schroder to take S&P multi offerings to IFAs.
September 6, 2004... SCHRODER has revealed the composition of its new multi-manager funds. The asset manager announced it had gained approval for the two new funds, which will target the retail market, last week. The Schroder S&P Strategic Balance fund and...

A year ago this month: CF CHEVIOT MAnaged fund.
September 6, 2004... BY JOHN FOSTER The CF Cheviot Managed fund is part of the Capita Financial Managers' stable of unit trusts. Cheviot is the investment manager and Capita the distributor. The objective of the fund is to provide a combination of income...

A tale of two American funds.
September 6, 2004... As part of its sector revamping exercise, Standard & Poor's has divided its North American coverage in two, by creating a separate, exclusively US category. Since the US accounts for 93 per cent of the entire region, this distinction seems...

Corporate profits brighten the outlook for mid-caps.
September 6, 2004... TOP-PERFORMING mid-cap managers say corporate profits are among reasons for optimism, despite a poor run earlier in the year. Andy Brough, manager of the AGBP840.6m Schroders UK Mid 250 fund, said that he expected positive factors such as...

Russia holds strong potential -- SG Asset.
September 6, 2004... Investors should not ignore Russia, according to James Syme, manager of the AGBP18m SG Asset Management Global Emerging Markets fund. Mr Syme, who has managed the fund since its launch in November 2002, said too many people were focusing solely...

Needle hires Kitchen to boost equities team.
September 13, 2004... Graham Kitchen will bring a new input and ideas to the UK equity team at Threadneedle, says the company. Mr Kitchen has left as co-head of investment at Invesco Perpetual to become head of UK equities with responsibility for Threadneedle's...

Competition will result in loss of 5500 jobs: Plimsoll.
September 13, 2004... ALMOST 5500 jobs will be lost in the intermediary industry in the coming year, according to a recent report. Research company Plimsoll has published a report claiming the job losses will be caused by increased competition. Plimsoll...

Marlbro' to launch high yield.
September 13, 2004... MARLBOROUGH Fund Managers plans to launch a high yield bond fund towards the end of October. Paul Reed, investment director at Aberdeen Asset Managers, and his team has been appointed as the external investment adviser to the fund, which...

Balanced in top sectors for Midas.
September 13, 2004... Midas Capital Partners has had two of its balanced funds reported as number one performers over the past year. The AGBP16.6m Balanced Growth and the AGBP17.2m Balanced Income funds were ranked first in the IMA Balanced Managed and the...