Fund Times: December 5 - 9
Cazenove to launch Diversity fund, another blow to Gartmore, AEGON's Phil Milburn takes a step back, and M&G brings index funds management home
It was report this week that Cazenove had confirmed it will launch the Cazenove Diversity Income fund on 15 Dec having been granted FSA approval. We first reported on this new fund launch here. The new fund is managed by the same team using the same overarching investment process, but it will have a greater focus on income. Morningstar rates some of Cazenove’s existing multi-manager funds. You can read what our analysts thought about the Cazenove Diversity fund here.
Gartmore Fined $1.35m by US SEC
Gartmore has been fined by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for breaching its short-selling rules. The firm reportedly has 14 days to pay the penalty. The news continues a long run of negative announcements for the group, including most recently, the resignation of star fund manager Roger Guy and CIO Dominic Rossi. We covered the recent events here.
AEGON’s Phil Milburn Steps Back From Ethical Bond Fund
AEGON announced this week that long-standing fund manager Phil Milburn would step down as co-manager on the AEGON Ethical Corporate Bond fund effective from 1 Jan 2011. Iain Buckle remains as co-manager – a position he has held since Nov 2009. He will be joined by new co-manager Euan McNeil who has been with AEGON since 2003. Morningstar analysts cover the fund – they acknowledge that although Milburn’s input will be missed, Buckle and McNeil are reasonably experienced and have been with AEGON’s fixed income team for some time. Meanwhile Milburn retains some input as he will continue to have a significant contribution to the team’s top down views – an important part of the process for this fund. McNeil has also been named as co-manager of the AEGON Investment Grade Bond fund, also effective 1 Jan 2011, but manager David Roberts remains on the fund.
M&G Brings Index Funds Management In-house
Funds management responsibilities for the M&G Index Tracker fund will be brought in-house it was reported this week. The fund was previously managed by State Street but M&G’s head of index funds, Nigel Booth, and his colleague Richard O’Connor will now manage the fund. Tracker funds have received significant flows and media coverage in recent times. The change may represent a move by M&G to participate in an increasingly popular area in the funds management arena. M&G’s broad scale in funds management suggests that, assuming adequate resources are devoted, they should have ample ability to manage such a strategy in-house, although the fund’s TER—which recently stood at 0.46%, will need to come down to compete with cheaper offerings.
