Fund Times: September 20 - 24
SWIP Global Equity Manager Colin Beveridge Resigns; Cazenove to Launch Multi-Manager Income Fund; Pictet to Launch China Long/Short Fund; New Low Cost Funds-of-Funds.
SWIP Global Equity Manager Colin Beveridge Resigns
Colin Beveridge, manager of the Scottish Widows Global Growth fund, has resigned from SWIP and will leave the group by the end of September. Beveridge was also responsible for a number of life and pension vehicles. According to SWIP, he is leaving to pursue other opportunities in the market. His duties will be taken up by existing team members and SWIP plans to recruit a number of international equity managers to its team. This is the second recent change of manager on the Scottish Widows Global Growth fund, after Ian Vose left the group earlier in 2010, and continues a rash of staff turnover at SWIP.
Cazenove to Launch Multi-Manager Income Fund
Cazenove plans to launch an income fund for their multi-manager team headed by Marcus Brookes and Robin McDonald. The fund will aim to achieve a capital growth in line with CPI over the medium term, and an average income of 4% p.a. Asset allocation will be 40% equities, 40% fixed interest and cash and 20% alternatives. The pair will leverage the same multi-manager approach used on the existing Cazenove range of multi-manager products.
Pictet to Launch China Long/Short Fund
Pictet plans to launch the launch the Pictet Total-Return Mandarin fund. Manager Lan Wang Simon will be able to hold companies outside China and Hong Kong, but they must derive a minimum 30% of earnings from the Greater China region. Pictet said the release is a play on China’s secular growth, while also using hedging and short-selling to manage impacts of falling markets. Investors looking to invest in China and considering this fund would need to consider the extent of short-selling in the fund. Short-selling pays in a falling market, but in a rising market, funds that short-sell may not rise as much as long-only funds.
Barclays Launches Fund of ETFs
Barclays Wealth has launched Global Markets, a series of funds-of-ETFs with an OEIC structure. The product includes five portfolios across the risk spectrum, with strategic asset allocations set by Barclays. The launch is an interesting development given that fund-of-funds often have costs that are higher than average because of the multiple layers of fees. These funds will have a management fee of 1% which suggests that, if other costs are not high, the overall TERs on these funds will be below average, adding to competition in the sector.
TCF Fund Managers Launches Low Cost Funds-of-Funds
Further adding to competiton in the fund-of-funds space, TCF has launched four fund-of-funds that are actively managed, but aim to deliver a low cost. TCF states the four portfolios will have maximum TERs of 0.8%, achieving this, in part, by holding turnover below 20% p.a.