Fund Strategy
15 December 2008

  • Agency suspends funds' AA ratings

    15 Dec 2008

    Old Broad Street Research (OBSR) suspended the AA ratings of the Old Mutual Japanese Select fund and the Gartmore UK Focus Fund last week.

  • Barings to lose Japan manager

    16 Dec 2008

    Baring Asset Management is set to lose its head of Japanese equities, Joji Maki, after deciding to relocate his team to London.

  • Blue Oar set to launch absolute return

    15 Dec 2008

    Blue Oar Asset Management plans to add a third fund to its range, an absolute return vehicle that will sit within its Oeic umbrella.

  • Bond manager sticks to gilts

    18 Dec 2008

    Chris Lynas, the manager of the Smith & Williamson (S&W) Fixed Interest Trust, is not tempted to take advantage of wide corporate bond spreads. This is because he says the risk of companies defaulting on payments still remains.

  • Castlestone plans mixed hedge and equity fund

    15 Dec 2008

    Castlestone Management plans to launch a Defensive Equity fund, which mixes hedge funds and equity indices. It is designed to appeal to investors who expect markets to recover but are not sure when.

  • Celtic tiger prepares to roar again

    15 Dec 2008

    Gartmore's Irish Growth Trust has halved in value over the past year, in unison with Ireland's stockmarket. But Gervais Williams, its manager, says the country is positioned for recovery.

  • China’s development brought to life

    16 Dec 2008

    Foreign Policy magazine has produced a colour slide show on “China’s 30 years of economic overdrive”. It vividly brings to life one of the most rapid and remarkable transformations in human history.

  • Consuming passions still smoulder

    15 Dec 2008

    Figures belie the public appetite for spending as millions queue for bargains on Black Friday, the well-heeled splash out on entertaining and demand for cosmetic surgery remains undimmed.

  • Correction

    15 Dec 2008

    In last week's Fund Strategy the article "Advisers strap in for downhill run" included a graph that incorrectly showed the MSCI World ex UK outperforming the MSCI United Kingdom index.

  • Cowley leaves Newton for Old Mutual

    15 Dec 2008

    Stewart Cowley, the head of fixed income at Newton, has left to join Old Mutual Asset Managers (Omam) as head of fixed interest and macro in June 2009. As a result of Cowley’s arrival, Andrew Tunks, the head of fixed interest at Omam, will leave the group following a handover.

  • Credit Suisse pair ditch Russia fund

    15 Dec 2008

    Aidan Kearney and Graham Duce say removing Neptune Russia from their multi-manager fund was "the prudent thing to do" in the face of growing risk. They have also cut exposure to Britain.

  • D:Ream on

    19 Dec 2008

    Can things only get better? The optimists are hoping that in 2009 mean reversion will work its magic.

  • Dour Scots dig in for the big freeze

    15 Dec 2008

    David Stevenson at Ignis sees his UK Opportunities vehicle as a fund for all seasons. But he is picking companies with strong balance sheets to endure a two-year winter in the debt markets.

  • Downturn stems from fear and green growth

    15 Dec 2008

    As the days go by explanations for the economic crisis pile up.

  • Equity Income saga finally addressed

    16 Dec 2008

    Funds that miss their yield target in the Equity Income sector have been much discussed. Groups that meet their yield criteria have long bemoaned other funds in the sector which, while they have produced high capital returns, have failed to comply with the Investment Management Association’s (IMA) set yield target.

  • Expect it to be worse, says Woodford

    15 Dec 2008

    The recession in Britain in 2009 could be much worse than the government has predicted, Neil Woodford, the head of investment at Invesco Perpetual, has warned investors.

  • Explanations for the crisis – part 93

    15 Dec 2008

    For those wanting to see an anti-statist explanation of the crisis this is an interesting essay by Lawrence White, a professor of economic history at the University of Missouri, St Louis on Cato Unbound. While Joseph Stiglitz blamed the crisis on insufficient state intervention (see December 9 post) White does the opposite.

  • Firm unveils fund for British retail market

    15 Dec 2008

    Somerset Capital Management has launched its first fund for British retail investors, a Global Emerging Markets Oeic.

  • Fund Manager's Diary

    15 Dec 2008

    Monday: We start the week with two company meetings, one a mid-cap industrial stock and the other a real estate developer that is suffering from the credit crunch. Business model analysis and bottom-up stockpicking are the tenets of our process and we are trying to understand how the macro environment is affecting companies.

  • Fund managers want to get fiscal

    18 Dec 2008

    Global fund managers are hoping that fiscal policy will help trigger a market rally in 2009, according to the latest monthly survey from Merrill Lynch.Managers are coming to the conclusion that interest rates cannot get much lower. The net percentage saying that rates were too restrictive fell from 59% in October to 17% in December – and the survey was conducted before the cut in American interest rates to almost zero.There is also reason to suggest that the economic cycle is close ...

  • Funds face expulsion from UK Equity Income sector

    16 Dec 2008

    The Investment Management Association (IMA) will push funds out of the UK Equity Income sector if they fail to meet the yield target. Funds that fail to do so will be placed into a new sector, UK Equity Income and Growth, when it is created in January.

  • Harder lessons in real economics

    15 Dec 2008

    Policymakers moved to limit the damage from the downturn and with tighter regulation, volatile markets and high commodity prices, there will be no return to pre-crunch conditions.

  • Inflation shock ahead

    18 Dec 2008

    It looks like fund managers and investors could be caught looking in the wrong direction again. Most of them were surprised by the onset of the credit crunch and they could be equally surprised by the revenge of inflation.

  • JO Hambro moves into life settlement

    19 Dec 2008

    Nudgem Richyal, a fund manager at JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM), has moved into the life settlement market, an area he says is in early cycle growth.

  • JPM values chance to exploit US recovery

    15 Dec 2008

    JPMorgan (JPM) has launched a US Equity Income fund to exploit the recovery in the American market, which the group says is imminent.

  • Junk bond defaults to rise

    18 Dec 2008

    Standard & Poor’s said yesterday that the default rate by issuers of junk bonds could rise as high as 20% by the end of 2010.

  • Leaviss takes over M&G bond fund from Knee

    15 Dec 2008

    M&G has handed the management of its International Sovereign Bond fund to Jim Leaviss as David Knee moves to another role within the group.

  • Liquidity problems halt New Star Africa fund

    15 Dec 2008

    New Star has suspended trading on its Heart of Africa fund, less than a month after it halted trading on its International Property fund.

  • M&G manager delays return to work

    19 Dec 2008

    Mike Felton, still formally the manager of the M&G UK Select fund despite being away since August, has extended his period of leave from the group because of ill health. He was scheduled to return to work in January and begin managing the fund but is instead continuing treatment. He is expected to rejoin M&G in the new year, the group says. While Felton has been away, his deputy manager, Garfield Kiff, has managed UK Select as well as UK Growth, which he has run since 2007.

  • Manager predicts ‘respectable' returns

    15 Dec 2008

    Ralph Brook-Fox of Ignis Asset Management anticipates double digit returns from British markets by the end of 2009 as a recovery begins.

  • Mott moves into mid-caps

    18 Dec 2008

    Bill Mott is increasing exposure to mid caps on the PSigma Income fund.

  • Nedgroup opens fund to retail investors

    17 Dec 2008

    Nedgroup Investments, a subsidiary of the South African Nedbank Group, has teamed up with Thomas Miller Investments (TMI) to make three funds of hedge funds available to British retail investors.

  • New manager increases mid caps on S&W fund

    15 Dec 2008

    Mark Pignatelli has turned over 70% of the Smith & Williamson (S&W) European Growth Trust and increased exposure to mid caps since taking over the portfolio in early November.

  • OBSR rating suspended for Newton fund

    16 Dec 2008

    Old Broad Street Research (OBSR) has suspended its AAA rating of the Newton International Bond fund. The move follows yesterday’s news that Stewart Cowley, the manager of the fund and head of fixed income at Newton, has left the group to join Old Mutual Asset Managers (Omam) next June.

  • Optimists bemoan 'annus horribilis'

    15 Dec 2008

    Substantial falls in all three of the Adviser Fund Index benchmarks reflect the extent of the market downturn over 2008, which has led many to regret their hardline stance on equities.

  • Painful correction precedes recovery

    15 Dec 2008

    The slowdown poleaxed stocks, hitting investment strategies that targeted soft commodities and property making the adviser's task more challenging. But risk takers will be rewarded again.

  • Polar Cap tech trust sinks as crunch bites

    18 Dec 2008

    Polar Capital’s Technology Trust has lost almost 20% of its net asset value (NAV) per share according to its half-yearly report.

  • Rate cuts should continue despite falling inflation

    16 Dec 2008

    Inflation fell to 4.1% in November, a smaller fall than anticipated, but still low enough to fuel further interest rate cuts, according to Capital Economics.

  • Rumours, rumours

    19 Dec 2008

    Given the economic environment and the falls in asset prices it has led to, it is hardly a surprise that the market is inundated with rumours about group mergers and acquisitions.

  • SCAM

    15 Dec 2008

    Put on the spot over his intentions now that the less than twinkling New Star group appears to be up for grabs, the chairman finds himself - unusually - in two minds.

  • Sent flying

    15 Dec 2008

    Global markets nosedived and investors sought sanctuary in absolute returns - some of which failed to fulfil the role of capital protection as fresh regulatory constraints were introduced. Adam Lewis looks back at a tumultuous year.

  • SG manager predicts bond market problems

    15 Dec 2008

    Gareth Isaacs, a fixed income fund manager at Société Générale Asset Management, warned that the secondary bond market does not look set for recovery in 2009.

  • SGAM UK to be sold

    19 Dec 2008

    Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) is to sell its London-based asset management subsidiary (SGAM UK) to GLG Partners, an American based hedge funds company.

  • Ten-year stretch keeps standard up

    15 Dec 2008

    As Standard Life Investments celebrates its first decade it plans to rebuild its fixed income reputation and launch equity income and property portfolios next year, writes Will Jackson.

  • Time to gear?

    18 Dec 2008

    As a horrid 2008 draws to a close, it would hardly come as a surprise that the focus of attention is what will happen in 2009. Will more bad news continue to keep global markets low? Are we close to a bottom and is a recovery in sight?

  • Tough time for small caps

    16 Dec 2008

    F&C’s Global Smaller Companies Trust saw a 26% fall in its share price over the past six months, according to its interim results released today.

  • Trust derailed by gearing

    19 Dec 2008

    The £96m Finsbury Growth & Income investment trust has reported a 31.7% fall in net asset value per share in its preliminary results for the year ended September 30. The fall is substantially more than its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share, which fell 22.3% over the same period.

  • Wealth of opportunity in selective approach

    15 Dec 2008

    Justin Lowes founded Lowes Wealth Management, based in Beijing, in 2005. The company uses a classical value style to create discretionary portfolios for clients and recently launched its first retail fund.

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