Fund Times: 12 - 16 October
Ongoing problems with cash funds at Standard Life, Threadneedle and Zurich; Rathbones bids for Lloyds division, continuing fund industry consolidation; Aviva announces wrap launch; Royal London will convert its unit trusts to OEICs; AEGON sheds four European equity staff and head of Sales Jon Bennett; Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued this week.
Fund groups and investors are still experiencing problems with cash funds falling in value. Standard Life was earlier this year pressured to reimburse investors approximately £100m to cover losses in its Sterling fund – we covered this here. More recently Standard Life sent letters to all 97,000 investors in the fund to inform them of how to make a complaint should they not be happy with any aspect of the fund. Meanwhile it was announced that the Threadneedle Money Securities fund will be closed in December. The fund experienced sharp outflows after it lost more than 20% - not what investors expect from a cash or money market fund. Six Zurich funds that cross-invest into the Threadneedle fund will also be closed. These issues highlight the need for clear disclosure from fund managers about what investments can be held within cash and money market funds and precise regulation regarding the risks permitted within funds describing themselves as money market offerings.
Rathbones bids for Lloyds division, continuing fund industry consolidation
Rathbones has made a bid for the wealth management division of Bank of Scotland, a subsidiary of Lloyds. The bid continues a run of merger, acquisition and divestment activity in the UK fund industry which may see a considerably different landscape over the next few years as strong players jostle for market share and weaker players struggle to survive.
Aviva announces wrap launch
Aviva plans to re-enter the platform market, announcing the relaunch of Aviva Wrap scheduled for the first quarter of 2010. Aviva has strong distribution and a large network so is well placed to be a major player, however the wrap market is extremely competitive. In fact numerous wrap products in the UK market are still not breaking even after operating for several years underlining the importance of scale required to make profits in the industry.
Royal London will convert its unit trusts to OEICs
Royal London Asset Management revealed it will convert its unit trust range to OEICs, aiming to complete the phased conversion by April 2010. The funds will be grouped under two ICVC unbrellas: Royal London Fixed Income Funds ICVC and Royal London Equity Funds ICVC, both incorporated in the UK. The first five funds scheduled for conversion are Royal London Sterling Credit Trust, Royal London Ethical Bond Trust, Royal London UK Special Situations Trust, Royal London UK Mid-Cap Growth Trust and Royal London European Income Trust.
AEGON sheds four European equity staff and head of Sales Jon Bennett
AEGON has let four of its European equity staff go following a restructure. Alistair Duffy, Simon Holman, Mark Love and Duncan MacKay will leave the European equity team. Sales and Marketing Director Jon Bennet will also depart AEGON having joined the group in 1998. He will be replaced by Martin Harris, formerly of hedge fund CQS. AEGON announced the moves were in line with their plans to compete as a standalone asset manager in Europe and the UK. In some respects the business now suffers due to its sheer size, after unfettered growth through the bull years. With the focus on building up of their AEGON Asset Management retail brand AEGON has shown that asset management is an important part of the business. The restructure of the asset management division should improve communication and efficiency. It will be a while before investors see the benefits but in the meantime AEGON is a reasonable house and we’ll watch to see what happens over time.
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 Invesco Perpetual Global Opportunities, Metzler European Growth and Rolinco N.V. Click here to see the full list.