Fund Times 24 - 28 August

Departures at SWIP fixed income team; SWIP launches UK Enhanced Equity fund; HSBC goes into European ETF market; Qualitative coverage updates on Aberdeen; Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued this week.

Mark Laidlaw | 28-08-09 | E-mail Article

Departures at SWIP fixed income team
Edinburgh-based Scottish Widows Investment Partners (SWIP) has been hit by the news that four members of the team, including its global head Rod Davidson, have been poached by Alliance Trust. The other members to depart are Head of Bond products Gareth Quantrill, Head of Aggregate Bonds Stuart McMaster and investment director Stuart Steven. This is certainly a blow for SWIP and we will be discussing the matter in detail, including plans to re-build the team, when members of our qualitative research team meet the firm in September.

SWIP launches UK Enhanced Equity fund
In other news relating to Edinburgh-based SWIP, the firm this week launched its UK Enhanced Equity Fund. The fund will be managed by SWIP’s Derivatives manager Caroline Silander. It’s designed to replicate the FTSE 100 through the use of an actively managed call option overwriting strategy, which in theory allows the fund to deliver additional capital returns from the option premia. The idea is that fund will capture most upside from the market but offer a degree of protection for investors on the downside when markets are falling.

HSBC goes into European ETF market
HSBC launched its first European ETF, the HSBC FTSE100, on August 25, listed on the London Stock Exchange. The ETF is designed to provide investors with a way to track the performance of the FTSE100. HSBC will act as a market maker providing liquidity. The fund will have a TER of 0.35% - and herein lies much of the attraction with ETFs – typically they are able to provide market exposure at a price lower than a lot of index funds. As a result it comes as no surprise that ETFs are seen as one of the major growth engines for the funds management industry.

Qualitative coverage updates on Aberdeen
Morningstar’s Qualitative Research team released updates on two Aberdeen funds this week, namely World Equity and World Ethical, both of which maintain their Superior ratings. Aberdeen applies a common approach across it equities platform. The shop focuses on firms with strong free cash flow generation, solid balance sheets and quality management. We like the fact the team builds concentrated portfolio that reflect their views – meaning at times portfolios will deviate substantially from their respective benchmark. Aberdeen also has little turnover within its investment team, another positive factor in our book.

Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued this week
Morningstar issued new qualitative ratings and reports on a number of funds available to UK investors this week, including BGF European Growth, Aberdeen World Equity, Aberdeen Ethical World and Artemis International Global Equity. Click here to see the full list.

Mark Laidlaw is a Fund Analyst at Morningstar. He would like to hear from you but cannot give financial advice.  You can contact the author via this feedback form.
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