Archive » 2004 » Issue 17 (February)
Fund groups forced to re-define their role
03 February, 2004
The tenuous state of Europe’s institutional market is driving more and
more fund groups to move into wealth management in the hope of
regaining profitability.
Fund groups active in Continental Europe are busy re-adjusting their
sales strategies. A combination of factors including prohibitive
pension regulations, the advent of the euro, lower commissions for
private client brokers, a lack of state contribution to workers’
long-term savings and questionable management of assets by large
financial institutions have given a boost to fund distribution and
sub-advisory opportunities.
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European jury’s out over impact of trading abuses
03 February, 2004
Roxane McMeeken finds some wealth managers more worried than others.
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Wealth news
03 February, 2004
Arbuthnot to offer external funds
Arbuthnot Latham, the London private client boutique, is to adopt open
architecture. Chief executive John Reed has revealed plans to transform
the current offer of general banking and direct equity investment into
a service encompassing a wide range of external fund management firms.
The bank is hot on the heels of rival C Hoare, which late last year
announced plans to launch its first multi-manager fund, providing
clients with access to the skills of Northern Trust, Russell and SEI.
Mr Reed hopes the move will boost current assets under management of
Ł600m (e880m) to around Ł1bn within three years. He also plans to
recruit three relationship managers, each of whom he expects will add
an extra Ł100m of client assets.
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Company briefs
03 February, 2004
Clearstream to tailor processing services
Clearstream has come up with a new service aimed at solving the
order processing problems of Europe’s funds industry. Clearstream has
upgraded its existing Vestima service to offer tailor-made services to
meet the needs of differing domestic markets. Bruno Zutterling,
director of investment funds, Clearstream, said the service would
enable fund distributors to select where they wished to settle and
whether or not to use Clearstream’s centralised settlement and custody
services. The service will be launched first in France and Germany this
summer.
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Danske boards open architecture bandwagon
03 February, 2004
Danish manager selects Aberdeen to run Ł246m in equity funds.
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UBS eyes up Lyonnais broker
03 February, 2004
Swiss manager said to be offering e215m for private client stockbroker.
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Branding, transparency and listening to clients
03 February, 2004
Three factors gained credibility in 2003 for global private banking
senior management: branding, client feedback and transparency. Senior
management are now incorporating these elements when assessing the
strength of their own business or when eyeing M&A targets.
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Ucits: a global phenomenon
03 February, 2004
New data collection methods can give investors a clearer picture of the worldwide activities of cross-border fund groups.
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Mergers prove tough for gallic digestion
03 February, 2004
The travails of the BNP Paribas marriage remain fresh in Philippe
Lespinard’s mind, leaving his firm wary of taking the plunge again,
writes Yuri Bender.
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SEI seeks to convert outsourcing sceptics
03 February, 2004
SEI’s European drive into back-office administration may come as a
surprise, but the firm hopes its experience doing just that in the US
will ensure it can win over cautious private banks. Roxane McMeeken reports.
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An even spread of balanced risk
03 February, 2004
Asset allocation is about controlling the risk added to the portfolio by each of its components.
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Tapping the growth potential of the Asia-Pacific region
03 February, 2004
In the past few years Asia-Pacific has offered attractive opportunities
compared with other equity markets – investors with the right strategy
can take advantage of further advances predicted for the coming year.
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The beauty of money market fund hideaways
03 February, 2004
Liquidity investment may be the poor cousin of glamorous equities and
bonds, but investing in cash is becoming an involved and serious
discipline.
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Selecting the best trajectory for stock market re-entry
03 February, 2004
The wealthy investor, rendered wary by several stormy years, is preparing to step back into the world of equities. Felix Lanters offers a guide to picking the right investment strategy and the appropriate manager.
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The scramble for income as interest rate hikes loom
03 February, 2004
Expectations of worldwide rises in interest rates and the recovery of
equities spells the end of capital value growth but will lead to an
improvement in corporate bond yields, says Simon Hildrey.
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Panel Investment
03 February, 2004
Each month in PWM, six top European asset allocators reveal how they
would spend E100,000 in a fund supermarket for a fairly conservative
client with a balanced strategy.
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Dive into pooled funds
03 February, 2004
Property investors must take account of the sectors within the asset class by spreading their bets.
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Picking a winning approach
03 February, 2004
Hedge fund strategies for 2004 should be chosen based on risk budget and faintness of heart.
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Portfolio planning
03 February, 2004
In this section of PWM we test the performance and volatility of two investment strategies using model portfolios. Each month we look at two baskets of shares – one global and one European.
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