Roxane McMeeken finds some wealth managers more worried than others.

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.

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.

Danish manager selects Aberdeen to run Ł246m in equity funds.

Swiss manager said to be offering e215m for private client stockbroker.

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.

New data collection methods can give investors a clearer picture of the worldwide activities of cross-border fund groups.

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.

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.

Asset allocation is about controlling the risk added to the portfolio by each of its components.

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.

Liquidity investment may be the poor cousin of glamorous equities and bonds, but investing in cash is becoming an involved and serious discipline.

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.

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.

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.

Property investors must take account of the sectors within the asset class by spreading their bets.

Hedge fund strategies for 2004 should be chosen based on risk budget and faintness of heart.

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.