Yuri Bender reveals the fund companies on Deutsche Bank’s roll of preferred product providers.

Dachfonds are secret of Austrian success

Austria’s E91bn mutual fund marketplace is a beacon of prosperity in Europe’s bleak financial landscape.

Barings relaunches with an alternative agenda

Baring Asset Management is re-launching its private client group. Having kept a low profile since the Nick Leeson scandal in 1995, Barings is now hoping to attract disillusioned affluent investors seeking to return to a “traditional, investment-led organisation”, said John Maitland, head of the private client operation.

The UK government appears to be at the forefront of a European trend towards encouraging buying rather than selling of financial products.

French funds firm says fixed income is the way to go in the 21st century.

Roxane McMeeken reports on the findings of Merrill Lynch’s latest research into the private banking market.

Risk management service from Reuters and Barra

Barra and Reuters have teamed up to create an institutional style risk management service for private wealth managers. Jane Platt, head of fund management services at media and information services group Reuters, said Reuters Portfolio Management Service would be a portfolio construction tool with Barra’s risk assessment model built in. Reuters Intelligent Adviser, meanwhile, “will allow high net worth advisers to manage a number of portfolios efficiently”, she said. It will bring together Reuters’ news, Barra’s risk analytics, and information from Reuters’ fund research subsidiary Lipper. The Lipper database of mutual funds will be used to allow advisers to drill down into the funds a certain client has invested in and determine exposure to particular sectors and stocks.

Roxane McMeeken outlines the bank’s strategy for doubling profits by 2006.

German IFAs are being targeted in a bid to steady the flow of funds into DIT products.

Funds house cuts back hundreds of ‘less lucrative’ distribution agreements in order to improve service for bigger customers.

Offshore operations face an uphill task to stay profitable, says report.

Starting up a funds boutique might sound like a good idea, but research shows that buyers still want the big-name suppliers, writes Andrew Hutchings.

Yuri Bender finds out how DWS is reacting to Deutsche Bank’s new found love of external funds at the expense of in-house products.

Few in Europe’s fund management community would dispute that competition makes for more efficient business practice.

Proud of its multi-local approach, SGAM’s distribution operation counts the options for furthering fund sales across Europe. Yuri Bender reports.

Different sizes of outsourcing providers offer different benefits. Roxane McMeeken reports.

The hybrid asset class of high yield has seen significant product development.

Investors seeking alternative sources of return in today’s environment of low interest rates and equity uncertainty are increasingly looking to high yield investments. To navigate this asset class, investors need an understanding of the different courses taken during prior investment cycles as well as the application of a global approach.

Over the past 10 years, few investments have provided the kind of returns available from emerging markets debt. And if investors keep an eye on yield spreads, this asset class won’t have to turn into just another over-hyped story.

Rapid growth in European corporate bond markets has highlighted the importance of independent credit research in providing fund managers with a leading edge over their competitors.

An uncertain investment environment should not discourage investors seeking market gains through a diversified portfolio including high-yielding equities.

BGI’s latest iShares addition, a US dollar fund, offers diversification into corporate bonds, writes Yuri Bender.

Simon Hildrey constructs a picture of an asset class whose standard feature is its same-day liquidity. But it is the quality of credit research that will help potential investors differentiate between the 30 major providers in Europe.

Roxane McMeeken describes how Frank Russell plays the role of ‘football manager’ with its funds.

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.

Thames River aims to keep its new emerging markets fund small. Roxane McMeeken reports.

The fund of hedge fund manager has to do more research on ‘apprentice’ hedge funds, says Alan Djanogly.

Sticking with Frankfurt through this sluggish demand patch just might pay off, writes Roxane McMeeken.

Roxane McMeeken investigates the ‘mezzanine’ asset class, which falls in the niche between equity and debt.

The high yield investment class has shown a remarkable comeback over the last six months. But the best instruments have been high yielding bonds. High yielding stocks have moved into the background, as some uncertainty exists over the outcome of tax reform in the US. Here, we investigate this asset class.

Buying a cheap stock might be very rewarding over a long time frame or from the point when the market discovers the stock. The strategy displayed here tries to exploit this time handicap. The basic idea consists of buying cheap stocks that are already on the move, avoiding the long wait for an increase in price.