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F&C looks to launch absolute return fund

Story by: James Kenny & Anna Lawlor, Investment Adviser

F&C Investments is mooting the idea of launching a new absolute return portfolio to compete with BlackRock's £1.4bn UK Absolute Alpha fund.

• Time published: 00:01
• Date published: 01.09.2008
• Published in: Investments

Swip employs protection technique to beat downturn

Team seeks outperformers with absolute return mindset without looking to churn managers

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Collins Stewart adds health stocks

Collins Stewart Fund Management's multi-manager, multi-asset funds are adding healthcare stocks as a longer-term defensive play.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Defaqto welcomes stability

Defaqto has hailed a period of stability in the multi-manager industry following manager moves, product launches and market turbulence.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Barclays appoints Rostron as head of retail product

Barclays Wealth Management has named Thomas Rostron as managing director and head of retail product for its investment and product office.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Managers hail buying opportunities in trusts

Multi-managers have hailed a buying opportunity in investment trusts while discounts to NAV remain wide in some sectors.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Liontrust calls for 'level playing field'

Liontrust Investment Funds has called for the creation of a level playing field in the UK Equity Income sector.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Julius Baer keeps up campaign on UK market

Swiss investment house gives UK investors access to Local Emerging Bond fund

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Radicle Projects invests in organic fruit schemes

Radicle Projects, the Aim-quoted company set up to acquire and manage Australian agribusiness assets, has bought stakes in two further managed investment schemes for £1.9m.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Brazil 'back-tracks' on rights of shareholders

F&C chief says recent moves are setback for country's rising reputation in capital markets

• Date published: 01.09.2008

AJ Bell promotes Richard Taylor to managing director

Richard Taylor has been promoted to managing director of AJ Bell Pensions, taking on the newly created role at the firm.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Paraplanners are 'seriously underutilised'

IFA firms need more paraplanners to keep them in profit and the advice market healthy, according to a firm of chartered financial planners.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

IMA hits out at Ucits IV cross-border plans

Industry body calls on European Commission to drop dual-control proposals

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Japanese real estate underperforms

Contagion from the US financial crisis has spread to Japanese real estate, according to the managers of the closed-end Prospect Japan fund.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

F&C trust posts healthy return

Higher oil prices boosts trust's holdings in oil rig market leader Viking Moorings

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Local emerging market debt records best month in five years

Local emerging market debt had its best month in the last five years in July, according to Investec Asset Management.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Energy and mining still good bets, says JP Morgan

Natural resources manager Ian Henderson says volatlity no proof that commodities bull market at an end

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Dexion reports shares tumble

Guernsey-based investment trust Dexion Absolute painted a gloomy economic outlook as it reported falling performance in its interim results last week.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Arc launches water utility plan

Arc Capital & Income has launched its first utility-based structured product.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

UK Equity Income sector remains tops

The UK Equity Income sector retained its spot as the best-selling peer group on the Fidelity FundsNetwork platform during July, according to figures from the fund supermarket.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Small US firms surge ahead of bigger rivals, Threadneedle reveals

Small US companies have outperformed their larger US corporate counterparts over the last three months, Threadneedle has revealed.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Aegon tells FSA to overhaul consumer financial advice

Aegon UK has submitted a raft of proposals to the FSA for overhauling consumer financial advice.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Property First launches vulture fund to buy up repossessed property

Team aims to take advantage of best buying opportunity in the UK market in 40 years

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Parents lose out on £242m a year, claims website

Parents lost out on £242m of child trust fund tax efficiencies during 2008, according to Unbiased.co.uk

• Date published: 01.09.2008

S&P survey predicts bleak outlook

The UK economy is gloomy and slipping into recession, a Standard & Poor's survey of fixed interest managers found last week.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

JO Hambro taps into Japan's new dividend culture

New Japan Select Fund is to profit from the country's growing sensitivity to shareholder rights

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Insight hires return strategies specialist [- replacement]

Insight Investment has appointed Sonja Uys as its product specialist for absolute return strategies.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

F&C calls Northern Rock collapse one-off

Northern Rock's dramatic collapse is unlikely to be repeated by other UK banks, according to Ted Scott, manager of the £125.8m F&C UK Growth & Income Fund.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Energy shares and commodities gap widens

One of the largest discrepancies in 12 years has emerged between energy shares and energy commodities, according to Investec Asset Management.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

US growth 'less than 2%'

The US economy will grow at between 0 and 2 per cent for several quarters, BlackRock has said.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Cofunds platform offers Tactica funds

Tactica Fund Management's three multi-asset funds are now available through the Cofunds platform.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

First outflows since January shock analysts

July unit trust sales experience near-record underperformance

• Date published: 01.09.2008

IFA reaction: New products

Depressed markets and risk aversion have spelled doom for many established managers. As product launch season approaches this autumn, the question in many IFAs' minds is: do we really need any more funds? Imran Khan asks seven leading advisers for their thoughts.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Investec launches set of plans

Investec Structured Products has launched a third set of plans, including accumulation, investment and income vehicles

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Standard Life launches FTSE-linked plan

Standard Life has launched a new investment option available through individual, group and wrap Sipps

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Nucleus makes customer friendly changes

Nucleus, the online wrap platform, has announced a number of technical enhancements.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Skandia to alter charging structure

Skandia is to change its fund platform charging structure to allow for the introduction of customer-agreed remuneration

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Premier hires hedge fund expert

Thames River Capital's Chris Wright hoped to use Ucits III knowledge to make dvidend fund 'more sexy'

• Date published: 01.09.2008

7IM queries market-timing strategies

Managers can no longer ensure the success of market-timing strategies after recent energy and currency fluctuations, according to a report by Seven Investment Management.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Midas fund loses touch

The managers of the £506.6m CF Midas Balanced Growth fund have been pushing into deep value and defensive territory after the fund almost hit the bottom of its sector over one year.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Threadneedle diversifies into higher-risk investments

The managers of the £650.1m Threadneedle Equity & Bond Fund are diversifying the fund away from gilts into higher-risk investments.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Fidelity offers CashManager Account

Fidelity FundsNetwork is offering a new CashManager Account as part of its platform service

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Leading IFA slams industry disarray

Hargreaves Lansdown says it wins customers from IFAs who have not treated them fairly

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Barclays launches lower risk products

Barclays Wealth is launching a range of new 'lower risk' investment products

• Date published: 01.09.2008

China to avoid post-Olympic slowdown

China will avoid the downturns suffered by other recent Olympic host nations, says Pinakin Patel, Far East client portfolio manager at JPMorgan Asset Management.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Harewood offers steady income fund

Harewood Solutions, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, has launched its new Platinium Absolute Return fund to give investors a steady income in the changing markets.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

OBSR hires new researchers

Old Broad Street Research has appointed three new members to its research team, bringing its total number to 15 staff.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

BlackRock favours companies exposed to fast-growing parts of economy

Mike Prentis, manager of the BlackRock British Smaller Companies investment trust, has said he currently favours companies exposed to the faster-growing parts of the global economy.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

India's oil imports offer investor opportunities

A "seismic shift" in India's energy position will provide abundant opportunities for investors, according to Sam Mahtani, manager of the F&C Indian Investment Company.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Punter Southall buys IFA

Independent financial advisory company Punter Southall Financial Management has acquired Surrey-based IFA firm City Assurance Consultants.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Rate cut now more compelling: Ward

The persuasive case for cutting UK interest rates is much more compelling than suggested by official figures, according to Simon Ward, chief economist at New Star Asset Management.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Alliance Trust in new model fund supermarket launch

Alliance Trust Savings has launched a new fund supermarket with what it has hailed as a unique commission rebate model.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Spa rebalances stock

Spa ETF has rebalanced its quant-based US stock index MarketGrader 100, removing Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft and Exxon Mobil.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Henderson reassures investors over Ireland move

Henderson Group has moved to reassure investors there are no implications of its planned tax domicile move to Ireland.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Newton gets S&P upgrade

Standard & Poor's has upgraded the £411.1m Newton Global Higher Income fund to AA status.

• Date published: 01.09.2008

Radicle Projects expands with two new acquisitions

Radicle Projects, the Aim-quoted company set up to acquire and manage Australian agribusiness assets, has bought stakes in two further managed investment schemes for £1.9m.

• Date published: 26.08.2008

Collins Stewart funds add healthcare stocks

Collins Stewart Fund Management's multi-manager, multi-asset funds are adding healthcare stocks as a longer-term defensive play.

• Date published: 26.08.2008

Julius Baer offers Local Emerging Bond fund to UK investors

Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer is continuing its blitz on the UK market by making its $1.82bn (£981m) Local Emerging Bond fund available for UK investors.

• Date published: 26.08.2008

Swip Select Boutiques fund outperforms downturn

The £2.8m Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) Multi-Manager Select Boutiques fund has used a special capital protection technique to outperform the downturn, according to the asset manager's fund of funds team.

• Date published: 26.08.2008