Investment Adviser articles from September 2005

Investment Adviser archives from September 2005

First State VCT starts fundraising.
September 5, 2005... First State is readying itself to enter the VCT fund-raising arena. A newcomer to the venture capital trust market, First State managed to raise AGBP11m for its Aim offering in the last tax year. Having already made 11 qualifying...

London and Harrogate events open to register.
September 5, 2005... The Financial Adviser Expo 2005, produced in concert with Investment Adviser, is open for registrations. The first venue is the Royal Horticultural Halls Lawrence Hall and Conference Centre, London, and takes place on 22 September. The...

Commodities to be on the Expo2005 agenda.
September 5, 2005... Commodity funds have had a strong -- if volatile -- run recently. And, with oil going through the roof, the focus on the asset class in this year's premier adviser event is highly relevant. Ian Henderson, manager for JP Morgan Asset...

Traditional funds to be surpassed by FoF.
September 5, 2005... Multi-manager is not just an investment product, but a total business solution, Credit Suisse will argue at Expo 2005. Gary Potter, joint head of fund of funds for CSAM, said: "I will not be angling anything towards Credit Suisse but will...

Henderson fund of funds gets overhaul.
September 5, 2005... Henderson is introducing an entirely new manager selection and investment process to revive its multi-manager business. Bill McQuaker, director of multi-management investment for Henderson, has outlined how he intends to turn around the...

LG funds ready to close.
September 5, 2005... two out of five Lloyd George Management funds launched just five months ago are to close. The LG China A and the LG Asian Small Companies funds are now bereft of assets and are awaiting formal closure. Andrew Atkins, sales and...

Lifetime set to launch enhanced Sipp option.
September 5, 2005... Lifetime is ready to roll with enhancements to its Sipp option, as well as an open architecture offshore bond. By the start of the fourth quarter, Lifetime's wrap, called the Bigger Picture, will launch its offshore bond, allowing...

Aifa warns advisers on death fund.
September 5, 2005... Aifa has warned that its members could be at risk for selling a controversial type of traded life policy that has drawn fraud allegations in the US. The Association of IFAs has sent an urgent newsflash to IFAs over the use of viatical...

ABN Amro plays catch up with India offer.
September 5, 2005... ABN Amro is to offer an Indian Equity fund in the UK. The fund is a Luxembourg Sicav and is being rolled out across much of Europe this month. It is managed by Paritosh Thakore, who is supported by a team of portfolio managers and...

Euro fund could be Bolton's after split.
September 12, 2005... Fidelity's plans to split Anthony Bolton's flagship AGBP5.17bn Special Situations fund into two may see the AAA-rated manager running the pan-European brief. Proposals to be voted on during the first half of 2006 are that the fund should...

Pimco plans UK invasion.
September 12, 2005... Pimco is to target UK distributors with its Dublin range of fixed income and enhanced equity products. The US-based fixed income specialist has 24 funds in the range that have, or are soon to receive, UK distributor status. It has...

Adnitor and Pru plan a new wrap.
September 12, 2005... Wrap consultant Adnitor has been hired by Prudential to assess the viability of developing a platform. Adnitor is believed to have been contracted to design a wrap proposition for the Pru. The life company would not comment on details of...

Jupiter FoF to talk on market future.
September 12, 2005... Jupiter's funds of funds team will discuss the market outlook, investment philosophy and the place of funds of funds for the investor. John Chatfeild-Roberts, team head, will speak in London and his co-manager Peter Lawery will speak at...

Regular savers free from rises.
September 12, 2005... Fidelity has moved to allay concerns that FundsNetwork's regular savers in Special Situations will be given preferential terms to investors on other fund platforms. However, there is the possibility the initial charge could rise higher...

Invesco set to launch split cap rollover trust.
September 12, 2005... Investors have read the obituary of split caps too early, Invesco claimed, as it announced plans for a rollover for its AGBP55.1m Recovery trust. The trust is due to wind up on 16 November and after sounding out investor appetite for a...

Edmans and Bee to put pensions on the agenda.
September 12, 2005... Self-invested personal pensions are one of the hottest topics for this year's Financial Adviser Expo. Track one covers pensions and retirement planning, and plays host to names such as Laurie Edmans, director of corporate development for...

DrKW rolls out structured product Oeic range for UK.
September 12, 2005... Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has launched a structured product platform into the UK market. The investment bank has received FSA approval for its UK-listed, Oeic-based range which is based on the Gresham Defined Funds Ucits III retail...

Go global on your debt for more cash, less risk.
September 12, 2005... Aegon's head of retail fixed income will speak to financial advisers about the benefits of using global debt for risk diversification and enhanced returns. David Roberts will be speaking to IFAs attending the investment stream of Financial...

Skandia goes global with property fund.
September 19, 2005... Skandia Investment Management is to launch a global property fund next month, investing mainly in Reits. The asset manager, which outsources all its single strategy funds, has hired property specialist LaSalle Investment Management...

Fidelity outflows a mystery.
September 19, 2005... Fidelity is remaining tight-lipped over the flow of money from manager Anthony Bolton's AGBP5.4bn Special Situations fund after its restructuring was announced. In another twist to the Bolton saga, Leeds-based IFA Pearson Jones said...

VAT rule to help savers.
September 19, 2005... Abbey has vowed to pass cost savings onto investors following its European court action challenge. The conclusion of the two-year case, which should see VAT exemptions on third-party fund services, could lead to reduced charges for savers....

When volatility is low always buy and hold.
September 19, 2005... New Star's Stephen Whittaker will tell attendees at this week's Financial Adviser Expo seminar why he has a bullish view on the UK economy. Mr Whittaker, the company's joint chief investment officer and manager of its AGBP309m UK Growth...

Seek out the 'invisible rich', advises Sanders.
September 19, 2005... "Make more money from your high net-worth clients" will be one of the key messages from Bryce Sanders, author of Captivating the Wealthy Investor. One of the speakers at this year's Financial Adviser Expo, to be held this week in London...

Henderson manager to talk on SRI opps.
September 19, 2005... Henderson will be talking to IFAs about how to make money from socially responsible investment. Mark Campanale, business development manager for Henderson's Sustainable & Responsible Investments, is set to address IFAs at this year's...

Gartmore plans to offer UK risk-controlled funds.
September 19, 2005... Gartmore's new global head of quantitative strategies is planning new risk-controlled funds for next year. Mike Gleason, who heads the 15-strong team which works in London and Philadelphia, said the company had been aware that investors...

Standard Life to fill global property gap.
September 19, 2005... Standard Life Investments is aiming to fill a gap in the open-ended property sector with a global fund. The Select Property fund will be launched on 13 October aimed at both institutional and retail investors. It will be structured as a...

Oil is still unlikely to reach $100 a barrel, say experts.
September 19, 2005... Industry experts who dismissed a Goldman Sachs prediction of oil prices at $100 a barrel are not yet ready to eat their words. In early April, F&C head of strategy Paul Niven said oil prices would moderate over three to six months with more...

F&C loses Gaiser to Threadneedle.
September 26, 2005... F&C has lost a fourth fixed income manager after Threadneedle poached Roman Gaiser to run its European High Yield Bond fund. Mr Gaiser has been running several funds from F&C's London offices while head of fixed income Fatima Luis is...

Skandia board votes "no".
September 26, 2005... Skandia's board has voted against the AGBP3.5bn Old Mutual offer, stating it was unattractive to its shareholders. With an eight to three split against the deal, the board decided to give the final decision to the shareholders. A...

7IM to offer 6000 funds on platform.
September 26, 2005... Seven Investment Management will more than quadruple the amount of funds on its platform, bringing the total to 6000. The company offers about 1300 funds but plans to introduce every unit trust and Oeic in Morningstar's universe. The...

Csam Income fund to up pharmaceutical exposure.
September 26, 2005... Leigh Harrison, manager of the AGBP1.22bn Credit Suisse Income fund, will drive the fund further into the pharmaceuticals and aerospace sectors. Mr Harrison, who manages two other equity income funds at Csam, said: "These sectors are...

Providers and IFAs drifting apart.
September 26, 2005... IFAs could become separated from asset management companies in the future, warned four leading figures from the financial services industry at the Financial Adviser Expo. The quartet, speaking at a panel session in London, comprised David...

VCT inheritance tax relief would be "too generous".
September 26, 2005... Suggested inheritance tax breaks for venture capital trusts will not happen, according to leading providers. Following a series of industry discussions with the Treasury, providers at Octopus Asset Management did not believe the government...

SVM loses managers to Britannic boutique.
September 26, 2005... Britannic's swoop on SVM's leading UK equity managers will be followed by a move for fixed income specialists and an unconstrained bond fund. The asset manager has abandoned plans for a US equity fund for the time being and is planning a...

Outflows put Special Sits into a perilous position.
September 26, 2005... A rush of money out of Fidelity's AGBP5.4bn Special Situations fund could create a situation where the fund, not the manager, would dictate stock selection. This worry follows the announcement this month that Fidelity was to soft-close and...

Gartmore uses bond Sicav as a 'test case'.
September 26, 2005... Gartmore's first bond fund to use credit default swaps has completed its initial two trades. Richard Hodges, manager of the AGBP99.5m European Corporate Bond Sicav, received permission from the relevant regulators to start trading CDS at...