Fund Strategy
13 October 2008
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Aberdeen builds on strength in depth
13 Oct 2008
Far from its near-collapse after the split-cap débacle, Aberdeen Asset Management has gained balance from its acquisitions and is profiting from client relationships, writes Neal Underwood.
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Alliance Trust signs sales head
13 Oct 2008
Alliance Trust Asset Management has appointed Tom Pearson as director and head of UK retail sales. Pearson, currently director, financial institutions group, at Jupiter, will start in his new role with Alliance Trust this week, reporting to Edward Troughton, managing director, distribution.
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Arch buys into Middle East firm
13 Oct 2008
Arch Financial Products, part of Arch Group Investments, has taken a 48% stake in Financial Partners Group, an IFA firm in the Middle East and Far East.
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Axa discounts bond fund charge
13 Oct 2008
Axa Investment Managers is applying a discount on the initial charge for the Axa Sterling Corporate Bond fund, managed by Theodora Zemek, global head of fixed income.
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Ban on shorting leaves retail funds unaffected
13 Oct 2008
Retail fund managers are largely unaffected by the ban on short selling in financials stocks, according to a report by Standard & Poor's (S&P). The study, published last week, examines the impact of the ban on several absolute return and 130/30 portfolios.
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Bank rescue raises fears for UK equity income
13 Oct 2008
The government's £50 billion recapitalisation scheme of British banks could have adverse effects on UK equity income funds.
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Banks divide opinion
15 Oct 2008
Perhaps it will come as no surprise that the health of the banking sector is being much discussed by fund managers. While many perceive banks to be cheap, concerns over their ability to pay dividends and fears the worst may not be over are holding some back from investing. Not so Henry Dixon, the manager of the Matterley Undervalued Returns fund. He announced today he is planning to build his position in the banking sector as he says he is not concerned by a lack of short term yields.See ...
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Bite hardens despite hopeful flavour
13 Oct 2008
The outlook for the global economy worsens as confidence in the financial markets continues to dwindle and credit tightens. But falls in commodity prices will boost consumers' incomes.
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Claws out for fat cats still feasting
13 Oct 2008
Big cheeses lined their pockets before the calamity hit Wall Street. Meanwhile the government's attempt to curb the excesses struggle to keep up with the machinations of the big companies.
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Double trouble ahead
16 Oct 2008
As time goes by it looks increasingly likely that both deflationary and inflationary trends lie ahead. The slowing of the global economy will reduce demand for goods and, in some sectors at least, could lead to falling prices. But the huge amount of liquidity being pumped into the economy by central banks and governments should bolster liquidity and push up prices.Until recently the frequent talk of stagflation a painful combination of stagnation and high inflation seemed grossly ...
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F&C fund employs hedge techniques
13 Oct 2008
F&C has launched an absolute return fund that aims for a return of 2-4% over short-term money market rates, net of all costs.
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F&C links up with Hua Xia Bank
13 Oct 2008
F&C Asset Management has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hua Xia Bank agreeing in principle to form a joint venture fund management company in China. The move is a key step in F&C's plan to build a presence in Asia following the opening of its first office in the region, in Hong Kong, this year.
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Flexibility the key as caution reigns
13 Oct 2008
"I don't think people can see six weeks ahead, let alone six months" - one expert's explanation for why AFI panellists are tending to increase levels of caution without abondoning aggression.
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Flight to safety sets gold price on six-day surge
13 Oct 2008
Investors worried about the safety of banks are increasingly turning to gold.
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Former IMS leads sales effort as FundQuest UK
13 Oct 2008
FundQuest activities in Europe now comprise FundQuest Paris, FundQuest UK and Primonial FundQuest, its subsidiary dedicated to French independent financial advisers
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Fund Manager's Diary
13 Oct 2008
Monday The alarm rings as usual at 5.30am. Wonder what the week will bring as I scamper down to Surbiton station, thankful for the major rally in equity markets on Friday.
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Fund managers gloomy and ambivalent
15 Oct 2008
It probably comes as no surprise that the monthly survey of global fund managers from Merrill Lynch finds a mood of deep pessimism. However, the views expressed are not entirely consistent with each other.A net 69% of managers expect a global recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of falling GDP - in the coming 12 months. In contrast, consensus forecasts are for global GDP growth of about 2.5%.Despite the macroeconomic gloom a net 43% say equities are undervalued at present ...
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Gartmore shelves plan for absolute return
13 Oct 2008
Gartmore has postponed the launch of its European Absolute Return fund, citing market volatility and changes in the regulatory environment as the main factors why.
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Green obsession stymies progress, says expert
13 Oct 2008
The West is set to lose further ground to the East as innovation in industry shifts to emerging economies, said James Woudhuysen, professor of forecasting and innovation at De Montfort University.
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Group banks on energy of emerging economies
13 Oct 2008
Mark Mobius, portfolio manager of the Templeton Emerging Markets fund, talks to Tomas Hirst.
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Growth story bolsters unfashionable theory
13 Oct 2008
Contrasting views of the prospects for the global markets and the world economy provided the backdrop for one of the four sessions of Fund Strategy's Investment Summit, which was held in Dubai last week.
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Hambro chief steps down after 10 years
13 Oct 2008
Nichola Pease will step down from her role as chief executive officer (CEO) of JO Hambro Capital Management.
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In the swim
13 Oct 2008
Interest in emerging markets plunged as investor confidence nosedived. But steady growth and a home bias towards domestic markets is bringing the trajectory of emerging economies in line with those of developed countries. Abigail Montrose reports.
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Inflation misery for government
14 Oct 2008
Ouch! The one area of the economy where the British government was expecting good news was on inflation. With the economy slowing the idea was that inflationary pressures were likely to subside. Yet today’s figures from National Statistics show Consumer Prices Index inflation at an annual rate of 5.2% up to September.
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Japan ready for a new dawn?
14 Oct 2008
Many pundits have predicted a recovery for the Japanese stockmarket in recent years. But just when managers think it looks set to outperform it disappoints or, in manager speak, there is “another false dawn”. However, according to the latest S&P Fund Services report on the region fund managers are united in expecting Japan to outperform other developed markets.
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Krugman wins Nobel prize for economics
13 Oct 2008
Paul Krugman of Princeton University has won the 2008 Nobel Prize for economics. The official press release says the prize is "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity". The release goes on: “Krugman's approach is based on the premise that many goods and services can be produced more cheaply in long series, a concept generally known as economies of scale. ...
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L&G awaits go-ahead for conversion
13 Oct 2008
L&G will convert its £55m Far Eastern Trust to an Asian equity income fund, subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next week.
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Low position fails to dent optimism
13 Oct 2008
Stephen Snowden, the manager of Old Mutual Corporate Bond, is sanguine about its position at the bottom of the sector and is optimistic about the opportunities that accompany the volatility.
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Midas appoints assistant manager
13 Oct 2008
Midas Capital Partners has appointed Simon Callow as assistant manager of the Midas Income & Growth Trust. Alan Borrows will remain as lead manager.
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Morningstar buys data provider
13 Oct 2008
Morningstar has acquired Fundamental Data, a provider of data on closed-ended funds in Britain, for £11m, subject to post-closing adjustments.
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Much to ponder for Schroder managers
16 Oct 2008
Recessions, earnings downgrades, broken bond markets and continued volatility were just a handful of the themes discussed at today’s Schroders’ London investment conference. There was a prevailing sense that governments and global central banks have gone as far as they can to breathe life back into the banking sector. Alan Brown, the group chief investment officer, said the measures taken had “put a lid on the banking problem”, but the economy overall was “not out of the woods”. Keith ...
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Multi manager leaves Hendersons
14 Oct 2008
Katy Gladstone, co-head of Henderson Global Investors' multi-manager range has left her post following a sabbatical. She was to return last month, but Henderson has confirmed she will not come back. Gladstone joined Henderson as a research assistant in 1999 and progressed through fund analyst and fund manager roles. In 2007 she became co-head of multi-manager investments at the group, alongside Bill McQuaker. McQuaker continues to manage the multi-manager range and is supported by a ...
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New investment house, bad analogy
17 Oct 2008
Spike Hughes, formerly of Skandia and Hargreaves Lansdown, has announced his return to the fund management world. Or, and its impossible to avoid the analogy in these troubled markets, his return to the dragons den.The reason for the bad, and probably overdone comparison is that Jones has joined forces with James Caan, a panellist on the BBCs Dragons Den show, to create a new investment firm, called Insynergy. The group will reveal details of fund launches in due course.
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Prospects for Latin America
17 Oct 2008
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) website is a rich but often neglected source of information on strategic questions. Relatively few people in the British fund industry are likely to be interested in the reports on Bangladesh and Tunisia published this week. But an overall view of Latin America should be useful to emerging market investors.At a press conference in Washington DC the director of the IMF Western Hemisphere department, Anoop Singh,
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Resolution fills alternatives role
13 Oct 2008
Resolution Asset Management has appointed Tim Sweeting to the new position of head of alternatives.
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Scam
13 Oct 2008
The chairman muses on the wide impact of the credit crunch, including its effect on private equity. But this does not stop him marvelling at the rewards of this particular investment science."
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Skandia to launch five America funds
13 Oct 2008
Skandia Investment Group is to launch five Americ...
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Small but perfectly formed over time
13 Oct 2008
The downturn has hit smaller company equities hard in the past six months but the picture is different over the longer term - figures reveal the sector consistently outperforms large caps.
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Speaker sounds alarm about risky strategies
13 Oct 2008
Andrew Clare, chairman of Fathom Financial Consulting and head of asset management at the Cass Business School, said the rapid growth in demand for absolute return strategies could mean investors ignore some of the associated risk.
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Speakers clash over global prospects
13 Oct 2008
In a week of government bail-outs and global interest rate cuts, contrasting views of prospects for the global markets and the world economy provided the backdrop for the third session of the Fund Strategy Investment Summit in Dubai.
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Stability bodes well for Gulf States
13 Oct 2008
Growing populations and infrastructure spending could allow the Gulf States to take full advantage of the oil boom to boost the long-term prospects of their economies.
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SVM finds opportunity amid turmoil
13 Oct 2008
Donald Robertson, the manager of SVM Global Opportunities, sits tight in the face of "irrational" markets and finds value in trusts investing in property in China, eastern Europe and Japan.
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Trust shares in long-term prosperity
13 Oct 2008
The JP Morgan Indian investment trust's share price rocketed more than 286% over five years as the country's GDP soared - so short-term dips in performance do not worry the managers.
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UK 'to be worst hit' as IMF slashes forecasts
13 Oct 2008
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its forecast for GDP growth in the main advanced economies in 2009, from 1.4% to just 0.5%.
