Investment Adviser articles from September 2006

Investment Adviser archives from September 2006

Hedge funds in new shift to retail.
September 4, 2006... Hedge funds are starting to resemble traditional asset managers as cost control and efficiency become increasingly important, research claims. According to a report by Datamonitor, as hedge funds make larger inroads into the retail market...

Money Portal fishing for wrap proposition.
September 4, 2006... The Money Portal is considering adopting a preferred wrap or platform proposition throughout its adviser network. There are indications that the chosen platform may be Cofunds, though the company is likely to demand generous terms because...

FSA to cut application paperwork.
September 4, 2006... The FSA is planning to simplify its approved persons application process because it has become too costly to benefit the industry. Under plans outlined in a review consultation paper, the city watchdog proposed merging the customer...

FundsNetwork plans for an offshore bond.
September 4, 2006... An offshore bond and a cash management account are likely to be added to the Fidelity FundsNetwork platform next year. Investment trusts are also under consideration but are not expected to be built into the wrap proposition within the...

ETF Securities launches new, broad fund range.
September 4, 2006... Exchange traded commodities provider ETF Securities has launched a raft of new commodity funds. Investors using ETF Securities' new funds opt to track indices covering individual commodities, with 19 different classes of commodity...

F&C adds to Special Sits in period of market volatility.
September 4, 2006... F&C Special Situations fund and F&C UK Opportunities funds, have added AGBP1.5m worth of Burren Energy stock. Luke Newman, manager of the AGBP47m F&C Special Situations fund, said: "Burren Energy is an exploration and production firm and...

Keith Jones leaves Morley to seek out new challenges.
September 4, 2006... Morley chief executive Keith Jones has announced he will resign at the end of the year. He revealed his surprise decision to the fund manager last week, after it reported record profits for the first half of the year. Mr Jones said he...

Small caps to ride out UK fall.
September 4, 2006... Top UK small-cap funds maintain a positive outlook for the sector, despite fears of UK economic slowdown. Ian McComby, manager of the AGBP432.6m Baillie Gifford British Small Companies fund said merger and acquisition activity had been a...

Fidelity refuses to bow to 'wag the dog' effects.
September 4, 2006... The draw-down facility on the Fidelity Multi-Manager Distribution fund will not force managers to maintain elevated cash levels to cover investor demand for cash, Fidelity has claimed. Normal yields would be sufficient to cover draw-down...

BNP believes put provides security.
September 4, 2006... BNP Paribas UK High Income fund is well placed to hold its own in a falling market, according to Winterflood's Wins Research. Charles Cade, analyst at Wins Research, said the a Guernsey registered closed-end fund's structure -" arranged...

Energy & Environmental joins Coastal for launch.
September 4, 2006... Energy & Environment Capital Management and Coastal Partners have joined forces to launch a fund of funds offshore version of the Energy & Environment fund. Gary Vasey, co-founder of EECM along with chief executive Peter Fusaro, said the...

Franklin extends its Reits fund discount.
September 4, 2006... Franklin Templeton has extended the introductory discount on its AGBP6.8m Franklin Global Reits fund until September 2006. The fund, launched in April, has been awarded a Standard & Poor's A Rating. S&P's analysts wrote: "The combination...

Neptune drops CiF funds as non-core.
September 4, 2006... Neptune has resigned as manager to two City Financial funds, the AGBP5.4m CiF Neptune Global Health fund and the AGBP16.7m CiF Neptune Global Bond fund. Robin Geffen, chief executive of Neptune, said: "The funds are not core to what we are...

Slowing growth to temper inflation.
September 4, 2006... Fears of a global bout of inflation are likely to be transitory, providing economic growth continues to slow, according to Richard Batty. Standard Life Investments' global strategist said inflationary pressure from high commodity prices was...

US housing market concerns New Star.
September 4, 2006... Since taking over two New Star funds, Greg Kerr has been taking a more systematic approach and forecasting further ahead when stock-picking. But the manager of the AGBP57.3m Global Equity fund and AGBP8.3m North American fund is worried...

Clients may be eligible for preferential IHT treatment.
September 4, 2006... IFAs are being urged to ensure that clients with pre-Budget trusts stop paying their premiums indirectly and start paying them directly. IFA support service Threesixty said premiums paid directly into life policies written in trust now...

African bonds emerge as the next hot buy for managers.
September 4, 2006... Africa is the next emerging bond market because the largest and richest emerging economies have paid off their external debt, according to a Threadneedle economist. Henry Stipp, strategist and economist for Threadneedle's emerging markets...

New Star rides wave of M&A activity in Euro financials.
September 4, 2006... Funds invested in European financials may well benefit from extended merger and acquisition activity on the Continent. Nick Brind, manager of the AGBP81.3m New Star Financials Opportunities investment trust, said consolidation in Italy's...

Abbey offers quartet.
September 4, 2006... Abbey has launched four new capital guaranteed deposit accounts. The structured products offer guaranteed full return of capital at maturity, and different benefits depending on the link to the underlying investment. The four bonds...

Swip fund adheres to Islam laws.
September 4, 2006... A new product from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership aims to provide Muslims with a stock market investment in line with their religious beliefs. The Swip Islamic Global Equity fund is managed by Suhail Arain, the company's global...

Property too popular.
September 4, 2006... Advisers are being warned to avoid rushing headlong into property. According to the IMA, adviser sales accounted for 90 per cent of all property sales in July. But Ben Yearsley, assistant head of research for Hargreaves Lansdown, said...

appointments.
September 4, 2006... AAxa Framlington has expanded its UK Equities desk with the appointment of Jamie Hooper (pictured) who will join the team in late November. Mr Hooper will be responsible for the management of the AXA Framlington UK Growth fund and is expected...

Legal & General's portfolio offer extended to December.
September 4, 2006... Legal & General has extended the offer on its Portfolio bond until 31 December. The offer awards IFAs an extra 1 per cent allocation, or 2 per cent if placing a Portfolio bond on the independent Cofunds platform. Cofunds is favoured by...

Asset classes are shifting, says Ashmore researcher.
September 4, 2006... Investors have traditionally seen asset allocation as a choice between two main classes -" debt and equity -" with everything else being lumped into the alternatives category, but this could be out of date according to Jerome Booth. The...

Arjent educates on alternatives.
September 4, 2006... Investment house Arjent is developing a hedge funds platform to boost IFA interest in alternative assets. Its move to specifically target IFAs follows research which found less than 10 per cent of investors that took independent advice were...

SVM UK fund suffers blow but manager sure of assets.
September 4, 2006... The SVM UK Opportunities fund suffered from its small and mid-cap overweight as large caps outperformed in July, but the manager remains confident in its portfolio. The AGBP52.3m fund has benefited from exposure to defensives, including...

Oil soon to be overtaken by water in importance.
September 4, 2006... Water supply could soon be more important than oil to investors, according to Charlie Thomas, manager of the AGBP177m Jupiter Ecology unit trust. Dwindling supplies and increasing demand have made water an increasingly significant...

GSAM unveils Ucits III funds.
September 4, 2006... Goldman Sachs Asset Management has launched two Ucits III funds with the ability to short synthetically. The funds -" the US Core Flex Portfolio and Europe Core Flex Portfolio -" aim to deliver the same returns as high alpha funds but with...

Chelverton trust holds back on ZDP tender offers.
September 4, 2006... Bath-based investment managers Chelverton Asset Management will not go ahead with its placing of further dividend shares within its Smaller Companies trust. The group last week announced the resolutions had been withdrawn following...

Commercial is go for New Star.
September 4, 2006... New Star has lifted levels of direct commercial property exposure within its AGBP1bn Property fund. The fund, which is attracting more inflows each day than any other New Star retail fund, now has 74 per cent invested in bricks and mortar...

Workers wrongly rely on inheritance.
September 4, 2006... More than a third of people are relying on receiving an inheritance to fund their retirement, rather than paying into a pension, according to new research. Fund manager Fidelity, which carried out the survey, found that people under 35...

Property managers are leaning offshore.
September 4, 2006... Property fund managers claim to be moving away from more cyclical investments in an attempt to boost portfolio yields. Stewart Cowe, property research manager for Scottish Widows Investment Partnership said offshore property investments...

Friends Provident offers new web services to IFAs.
September 4, 2006... Friends Provident has introduced three new services it claims will help members of group pension schemes understand their personal investment performance. The new online service will also allow IFAs, who sell Friends Provident pension...

Unicorn drops cash to gain better protection from falls.
September 4, 2006... Unicorn's AGBP12m Mastertrust trust has reduced its high cash position to bolster its protection against a market fall. Peter Walls, manager of the trust, said: "Global markets growth remains robust, so I am restructuring the trust in order...

Technology rides the bandwith to recovery.
September 4, 2006... Technology trusts claim to be heading for a revival, on the back of broadband internet's popularity. Jeremy Gleeson, fund manager of AGBP15m Finsbury Technology trust and the AGBP12m Close Finsbury Euro Tech trust, said technology which...

Scottish Equitable renamed.
September 4, 2006... Scottish Equitable's entire pensions range will be renamed Aegon Scottish Equitable, taking on the name of the Edinburgh life office's Dutch parent. The decision followed the life office's year-long campaign to generate awareness of the...

Asian equities good buy despite volatility.
September 4, 2006... Asian equities are showing a well-balanced presence in global funds, despite fears about market volatility, according to Heargreaves Lansdown. Mark Dampier, the adviser's head of research, said they were reasonably priced and offered good...

Funds batten down the hatches.
September 4, 2006... Fund managers are bracing themselves for a global slowdown by eschewing resources in favour of less cyclical stocks. Sam Liddle, manager of the AGBP39m CF Miton Global Portfolio, said that he was be trying to find sectors that would be less...

UK housing market steady.
September 4, 2006... There is no sign of the UK housing market slowing, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors forecasting prices rises totalling 7 per cent in 2006. The organisation expects average prices to continue rising in 2007, but at a slower...

US housing slump is a 'classic late-cycle event'.
September 4, 2006... A slowing US housing market will hurt, but the correct response is a classic end-of-cycle portfolio, according to the manager of the AGBP222.9m F&C North American fund. Rupert Della-Porta said the slowdown was a classic late-cycle event,...

Fidelity benefits from more Chinese growth.
September 4, 2006... Improving consumer wealth, growing industries and a grip on global trade have created new opportunities in China for Fidelity's South East Asia fund manager. Allan Liu, who has run the AGBP545m fund for the past three years, said the...

Melchior gobbles up Turkey.
September 4, 2006... Recent market volatility has failed to dent Turkey's attractiveness to investors. James Hordern, manager of the AGBP144.74m Melchior European Opportunities fund, believes Turkey offers a top emerging markets investment opportunity, despite...

First State Global Opps to remain best ideas fund.
September 4, 2006... The top decile AGBP65.4m First State Global Opportunities fund will remain a concentrated portfolio of best ideas under its new manager. The fund has been handed over to Habib Subjally following the departure of long-standing manager Andrew...

Close brings retail funds under one roof.
September 4, 2006... No fund closures are expected as a result of the reorganisation at Close Brothers group. In a move that will help bring its retail products under one roof, it is understood that Close Finsbury Asset Management, Close Investment and...

Schroder hedges bets in search for returns.
September 4, 2006... The Schroder Cautious Managed Distribution portfolio has eschewed bonds in favour of a hedge fund of funds. The AGBP20.6m fund has returned 13.8 per cent over one year, beating the IMA Cautious Managed sector average, which returned 7.6 per...

Euro market open to property funds.
September 4, 2006... Rising interest rates are putting pressure on leveraged buyers, freeing up the European property market for property funds, Europa Capital has claimed. Charles Graham, principal at real estate fund managers Europa Capital, said there had...

Making initial fees fair for the investors.
September 4, 2006... Is the fund manager retained portion of the initial charge fair to investors? In reply to this question, I have explored the different ways that the initial charge is levied through: lDiscount brokers; lsupermarkets and wraps; ...

Keeping the best company of all.
September 4, 2006... D oes the recent global market setback mark a change in the markets' character? Or is the flight to quality equities merely a knee-jerk reaction of those who usually get it wrong to any market setback? Normally the cynic in me would think...

Globalisation in a more 'secure' world.
September 4, 2006... If Dante has a 10th circle of hell, it must surely be a nine hour wait for an 11 hour flight, with two small children. To add to the torment, ensure that the authorities remove all the books and electronic equipment assembled to entertain said...

PBOC tightening to have a global effect.
September 4, 2006... The People's Bank of China is gearing up for a monetary tightening, with grave implications for the world economy, Axa's chief investment officer for Asia believes. Nigel Richardson noted that Chinese officials had long been expressing...

Cautiously short on the Ronseal test.
September 4, 2006... There is a wonderful episode of The Simpsons where Homer asks a trendy ad agency to make a commercial for his fly-by-night "Mr Plow" snow-ploughing business. After the advert ran at 2am on local cable TV, Bart piped up: "Was that your advert...

Misinterpreting the need for analysts.
September 4, 2006... "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves." Or in other words, do not blame the market for your losses, blame deficiencies in your interpretation of, or response to, the market. Curious interpretation of market...

Rhyming slang.
September 4, 2006... Rhyming slang "Now is the time," to quote Martin Luther King -" although to be fair, he probably did not have investments in mind when he made the statement. Since May's sell-off there has been something of a "wait and see" feeling in...

Advisers get free workout on FTAdviser.
September 4, 2006... FTAdviser.com has unveiled its Gym -" an online training tool for intermediaries. The Gym, which is free to join, will offer 'workouts' on a range of topics, honing advisers skills and earning CPD points. The investment area of the Gym...

Men's packages proves too small.
September 4, 2006... As May West almost said: "Is that a bulging wallet in your pocket or are you pleased to see me?" However, according to a report by NS&I the average man is failing to measure up to women's expectations in the wallet department. It seems men...

But it's only wafer thin Mr Creosote.
September 4, 2006... For many advisers and the people who manage their money, business lunches and after-work drinks parties are a perk of the job. Basically, most of the business done in Fundland is carried out over empty platters and coffee. However, advisers...

We do make small margins, but we also make a lot of money. That is the motivation for any business to move into a market.
September 4, 2006... Investment Adviser: Not every Tom, Dick or Harry can set up a platform as it takes a lot of initial investment. What process did you have to go through when you set up FundsNetwork, and how expensive was it to do so? David Dalton-Brown: It is...

Hooked on petrol.
September 4, 2006... With commodity prices continuing to skyrocket and petrol prices following suit, our friends Down Under have come up with a novel way of making the burden a little lighter with the services of the world's oldest profession. Frustrated motorists...

Understanding wrap.
September 4, 2006... The definition of a wrap has and will remain a topical subject. They are not a one size fits all solution due to the different market segments that derive benefits from using them. Therefore, providing a unique definition of a wrap is not a...

Retirement made easier.
September 4, 2006... There are four main component parts to the post A-Day self-invested personal pension, from which investors can really benefit. First, the modern Sipp offers an all-encompassing flexible investment solution allowing investors to accumulate...

A fertile time for pensions investors.
September 4, 2006... After years of consultation and review, new pension legislation came into effect on 6 April this year, an event known as A-Day. The new legislation is designed to simplify the complex rules for different types of schemes into one single set of...

Blueprints of open architecture.
September 4, 2006... Portfolio diversification is critical for clients. From a behavioural perspective, not putting all of a client's investment into one basket, particularly for larger cases, feels intuitively the right thing to do. There are good reasons for...

Goldman Sachs back to school.
September 4, 2006... Who said asset management was child's play? Well, in the case of Goldman Sachs there is some truth to it, with more than 500 of the bank's employees volunteering at the Conroam's Fields children's playground. More used to the bear-pit of the...

Round the World in 80 days.
September 4, 2006... Every expedition, however long, foolhardy or dangerous, starts in the relative safety of your own front doorstep. Over the next 80 days, or 77, as I will be writing for 11 weeks, our journey will take us all around the world, looking at...

Gartmore and Melluish reunited.
September 4, 2006... Gartmore's former head of US equities has re-joined the fund manager just 18 months after leaving to set up a soft furnishings business. Simon Melluish, who left Gartmore in January 2005 has re-joined the fund manager as a product...

Ayia Napa shines up its reputation.
September 4, 2006... Once a centre of binge drinking and promiscuity, with the girls -" herpes in halternecks -" and the boys -" hoodlums in hoodies -" vomiting the alcopops they have just consumed on the street, Ayia Napa is now rebranding itself as a serious...

Slipping on their own oil slick.
September 4, 2006... The seeds of the super-major oil companies were sown back in the late 1990s when oil prices slumped to below $10 per barrel. The pressure was then on the major oil companies to defend their profitability by aggressively cutting costs, and the...

Platform launches wrap.
September 4, 2006... Fundsdirect has announced the launch of its long-awaited wrap service. After six months' preparation, the IFA-owned platform has added full wrap functionality to its existing fund supermarket. Clive Boothman, chairman of Fundsdirect,...

High five for JPMorgan as IFAs doubt returns.
September 4, 2006... Advisers have already rejected JPMorgan's claim of being able to return 5 per cent a year on its Balanced Total Return fund. The fund, which was launched today, is being managed by Neil Nuttall and Talib Sheikh and was designed to...

To Sipp or not to Sipp...
September 4, 2006... What you need to be asking yourself is that with Sipp regulation now clearly on the horizon, is this the time to invest your clients' money in a Sipp? If so, what are the risks and can you mitigate them before they are regulated by the FSA in...

A fresh slice of American pie is going down well.
September 4, 2006... Fundamentally, US markets look better than expected. As the economy heads for a modest slowdown, and as investors look ahead to the last four months of 2006, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic about the US stock market. There is a mix...

New hire runs Axa Japan fund.
September 11, 2006... Axa Framlington is to launch a fund for Japanese Smaller Companies manager Chisako Hardie this quarter. Called the Axa Framlington Japanese Smaller Companies fund, its objective will be to achieve long-term capital growth through investment...

Joint property fund hits market.
September 11, 2006... A new AGBP2bn European property fund will hit the market this quarter following a joint venture between aAim Group and the Bank of Scotland. The deal will also see the Bank of Scotland acquire a 20 per cent stake in aAim Group, a property...

M&G says shake-ups put bubbles in companies.
September 11, 2006... Management changes have put the fizz back into Coca-Cola for Aled Smith, manager of the AGBP268.6m M&G American fund. Mr Smith believes corporate adjustments such as management turnover and capital expenditure are a growing trend among US...

SG fires new tracker funds at UK market.
September 11, 2006... Societe Generale's corporate and investment banking branch is targeting the UK retail market with new enhanced tracker funds. The products are aimed to help IFAs with asset allocation. Two of the funds are Sicavs designed for advisers...

Platforms look to improve detrimental wrap regulations.
September 11, 2006... Leading players in the UK platform industry have set up a standards committee to improve regulations affecting how platforms operate. The platforms represented on the committee are: Cofunds, Fundsnetwork, Skandia, Selestia and Standard...

Arc rolls out its fifth growth fund.
September 11, 2006... Arc Fund Management has launched its fifth enterprise investment scheme fund for private investors. The Arc EIS 5 Growth fund will invest in early stage, cash generative, high growth companies which qualify for tax relief under the...

Markets' climate may change with seasons.
September 11, 2006... This month's trading has convinced Morgan Stanley Quilter that the summer uncertainty plaguing global markets is over. But Chris Burville, manager of the AGBP356.3m Gartmore Cautious Managed fund, disagreed, saying the macroeconomic...

Friends Provident increases allocation rate on Gift bond.
September 11, 2006... Friends Provident has announced a special offer on its Discounted Gift bond. The company is providing investors with an extra 1 per cent allocation rate on subscriptions into the DGB. These bonds are held under a trust that reduces the...

NDF kicks out latest in series of products.
September 11, 2006... NDF is launching the latest in its Kick Out Investment Plan series, offering a potential return of 11 per cent a year. The NDF Growth Kick Out Plan September 2006 has a maximum investment term of six years and is linked to the performance...

Franklin Templeton looks to defensives.
September 11, 2006... Long-term holdings in defensives and companies benefiting from merger activity have attracted the eye of Franklin Templeton's Mutual Shares managers. New Jersey-based Peter Langerman and Deborah Turner, who run the AGBP41.4m Franklin...

Emerging European property plummets.
September 11, 2006... Emerging European property returns have plummeted over the past few months, a survey by property investment group Assetz has found. Despite the countries' popularity among property investors, in Bulgaria, for example, the survey found total...

Ashburton, Merrill eschew US equities.
September 11, 2006... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Ashburton have claimed there are still turbulent times ahead for US equities. Ashburton, the Jersey-based asset management division of FirstRand International Asset Management, believes the US economy...

Fidelity creates new global property fund.
September 11, 2006... Fidelity has launched an onshore version of its AGBP140m Global Property fund, investing in property stocks and real estate investment trusts. Identical in all respects to an existing Sicav, the Fidelity Global Property fund is available...