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Fortis Investments to merge 86 funds

Story by: Nick Rice, Investment Adviser

Fortis Investments has announced plans to merge 86 of its funds and change investment strategies on 42, following its acquisition of ABN Amro Asset Management.

• Time published: 00:01
• Date published: 11.08.2008
• Published in: Investments

Gartmore to merge funds into absolute return vehicle

Gartmore Investment Management is planning to create an absolute return fund by merging two of its multi-manager vehicles.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

FundsNetwork rolls out Sipp By-Pass Trust

Fidelity FundsNetwork has launched a Sipp By-Pass Trust designed to protect a client’s Sipp lump-sum death benefits from a future charge to IHT on the subsequent death of their spouse.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Barings converts Pacific fund

Baring Asset Management announced that it has converted its Pacific fund into the Baring Asean Frontiers Fund, an Ireland-domiciled unit trust.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Canada Life adds seven fund links to planner

Canada Life, the wholly owned subsidiary of Great West Lifeco, has added seven new fund links with Jupiter Asset Management and Neptune Investment Management to its online asset allocation and risk planner.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Long-term approach would cut fees, says L&G

Managers claim 1.5 per cent AMC is more than clients should be paying

• Date published: 11.08.2008

US small-caps offer quality opportunities

The US small-cap sector is now throwing up once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunities in high-quality companies, according to Whitney George, who manages the Royce Smaller Companies and the UK ICVC Legg Mason US Smaller Companies funds.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

JPMorgan urges investors to ignore Indian stockmarket gloom

The pall of gloom hanging over India’s fragile stock market masks some golden buying opportunities, according to Ted Pulling, lead manager of the JPMorgan Indian investment trust.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Economy not as bad as 90s

Schroder Investment Management has argued the economy is as not bleak as it was in the early 1990s, claiming equities now offered good value for multi-managers.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Threadneedle sees excellent growth in China

China still offers outstanding growth potential as a long-term play despite an expected short-term slowdown, according to Gigi Chan, manager of the £49.3m Threadneedle China Opportunities fund.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

SVM puts mixed returns down to flight to quality

MD says focus on mid caps and smaller companies has lowered performance

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Directors encouraging investors with buybacks, claims Winterflood

Head of research for investment companies says benefits have been felt across the sectors

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Aberdeen says turmoil will last until mid-2009

Damage to US and UK earnings from the credit crisis will not end before mid-2009, according to Aberdeen Asset Management's investment trust team.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

M&G to employ Ucits III powers for bond range

Wider powers will allow managers greater flexibility and more use of instruments

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Matterley rolls out first retail equity fund

New boutique specialises in equity fund management and private equity

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Schroders maintains opportunities are still to be found

Opportunities abound despite a gloomy outlook for theUK economy, according to Simon Brazier, manager of Schroder Investment Management's £447m UK Equity fund.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Natural resources managers bullish on oil

Natural resources fund managers are still largely bullish about the price of oil despite recent falls in the market.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

PSigma prepares for launch of balanced managed unit trust

PSigma Investment Management is launching a balanced managed unit trust next month to bring its private client investment strategy to the wider market.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Swip hires Elsmark

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has hired Christian Elsmark for the newly created role of managing director for Europe.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

ETF launches Shariah-compliant precious metals platform

ETF Securities has launched the world’s first Shariah-compliant exchange-traded commodities precious metal platform.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Barclays iShares launches two fixed income funds

Barclays Global Investors' ETF platform iShares has launched two fixed income funds covering global inflation and European covered bonds.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Hotbed appoints Gottlieb to board of directors

Hotbed, a UK-based private investor syndicator, has appointed Julius Gottlieb, former finance director at Morley Fund Management, as a non-executive director to its board of directors.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Small caps still sound, claims Royal London

Royal London UK Growth manger has allocated 10% of portfolio to smaller companies

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Pictet moves into forestry with timber fund

Pictet Asset Management is to move into the forestry sector with the launch of a timber fund.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

F&C keeps half-year results in line with market

Chief executive attributes difficulty in asset gathering to uncertainty over Friends Provident holding

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Shah takes top spot in JPMorgan Fantasy Fund Manager

Congratulations to Bhavik Shah from Bhavik Shah Independent Financial Advisers, the top performer for July in the JPMorgan Fantasy Fund Manager competition.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Fortis blames first-half net profit decline on €362m in writedowns

First-half net profits at Fortis fell from €2.8bn (£2.2bn) in 2007 to €1.6bn this year - a 41 per cent year-on-year decrease.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Profits up 14% for Skandia UK

Skandia UK said its profits were up 14 per cent in the first half of 2008, but warned diversification was vital to retaining market share under current conditions.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

RAM business plunges 32% at Royal London

Royal London announced that new business for its asset-management division plunged by 32 per cent to £1bn in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

S&W plans onshore version of Enterprise fund

Smith & Williamson is planning to launch an onshore version of its £41m Enterprise fund.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Aegon UK announces 44% net income drop

Aegon UK, the local unit of Dutch insurer Aegon, announced that net income dropped from £101m in the first half of 2007 to £57m over the same period this year - a 44 per cent decrease.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Axa reports underlying earnings increase to £183m

Axa UK & Ireland announced that underlying earnings increased from £160m in the first half of 2007 to £183m in the first half of 2008 - a 14 per cent increase.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Absolute declares its end of year results

Hedge fund manager Absolute Capital Management has announced its year-end results following the abrupt resignation of Florian Homm, chief investment officer, in September.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

GAM offers Multi-Environmental FoHFs as public portfolio

GAM has announced that its Multi-Environmental fund of hedge funds is now available as a public portfolio.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Turner eyes up UK retail space

US-based asset management firm Turner Investment Partners is making a push into the UK retail space, registering four funds in Dublin for distribution into the UK.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Allianz appoints Guido Stiel as director of emerging market equities

Allianz has strengthened its emerging market equities team by appointing Guido Stiel as director and senior portfolio manager of emerging market equities.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

New Star makes Chan associate director for Greater China

New Star International announced that it has appointed Kanise Chan as associate director for Greater China.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

IMA report reveals radical change in IFA attitudes

Many managers express concerns over liquidity, tax and understanding of products

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Credit Suisse appoints David Norman as asset head

New chief executive of asset management says main objective is to leverage global products in UK sectors

• Date published: 11.08.2008

FSA puts back RDR discussion paper

The FSA has said that feedback on the RDR Discussion Paper will now be delayed until November.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

FTSE100 dividend yield shows equities are a buy, says Dugan

The fact the FTSE100’s 4.9 per cent dividend yield is above the yield of the 10-year government bond shows there is dividend support for the UK equity market, according to Gary Dugan, chief investment officer at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Managers.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

New Star mulls launch of Absolute Alpha fund

New Star Asset Management is mooting the idea of launching an absolute alpha fund for manager Tim Steer to compete with BlackRock's £1.3bn Absolute Alpha fund.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Liontrust to raise profile amongst wider IFA market

Liontrust has launched a global expansion plan designed to raise the company’s profile in Europe and North America and within the wider IFA market in the UK.

• Date published: 11.08.2008

UK Equity and Bond sector can compete: Canada Life

Income fund manager says performance characteristics steadier than for Balanced Managed

• Date published: 11.08.2008

Smith & Williamson launching onshore version of Enterprise fund

Smith & Williamson is planning to launch an onshore version of its £41m Enterprise fund.

• Date published: 07.08.2008

New boutique Matterley rolls out first retail equity fund

New asset management company Matterley is hoping to make a name for itself in the boutique market with the launch of its first retail equity fund.

• Date published: 07.08.2008

SVM blames UK equity funds performance on flight to quality

SVM Asset Management attributed the mixed performance of its UK equity funds to a flight to quality, as two of them entered the fourth quartile over 12 months.

• Date published: 05.08.2008

China still offers outstanding potential: Threadneedle

In spite of an expected short-term slowdown, China still offers outstanding growth potential as a long-term play, according to Gigi Chan, manager of the £49.3m Threadneedle China Opportunities fund.

• Date published: 05.08.2008

US small cap offering once-in-a-lifetime opportunities

The US small cap sector is now throwing up once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunities in high-quality companies, according to Whitney George, manager of the Royce Smaller Companies and the UK ICVC Legg Mason US Smaller Companies funds.

• Date published: 05.08.2008

L&G fund managers seek to cut multi-manager costs

Long-term, high-conviction investing could cut multi-manager costs, according to Legal & General Group's multi-manager team.

• Date published: 05.08.2008