“Great scepticism is warranted,” according to Murray International trust manager Bruce Stout, who has warned that the likelihood of central banks achieving a balancing act of withdrawing monetary stimulus and avoiding recession “is virtually zero.”
Old Mutual Global Investors’ decision to outsource management of one its funds to a Hong Kong subsidiary of a Chinese banking giant is a “pragmatic” move that could free up the in-house Asian equities team to focus on their core funds.
Platforms’ market dominance has declined over the past year, according to the Investment Association’s (IA) January statistics.
Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on aluminum and steel cast a dovish cloud over Thursday’s ECB meeting, although the governing council’s removal of reference to the potential expansion of quantitative easing indicated it is ultimately committed to tightening money policy.
Asset managers are increasingly repurposing underperforming funds into ESG products to jump on the sustainable investing trend, but an announcement this week from Franklin Templeton Investments has taken the process to new heights as it repositions a global equities fund into a thematic climate change product.
AJ Bell has made the “rare” decision to go bonds-free in the latest addition to its managed portfolio service (MPS) range.
Another Neil Woodford-majority owned firm has announced plans to float as the heavy-weight manager nears the regulator’s 10% limit on unlisted holdings.
AJ Bell has added four more funds to its managed portfolio service range, citing growing demand for income solutions.
Baillie Gifford bond manager Lesley Dunn has said the team can maintain top-quartile performance despite the exit of two heavyweights from the fixed income team and a rising interest rate environment.
The board of the £313.3m Blackrock Frontiers Investment Trust has called a general meeting for shareholders to vote on expanding the fund’s investible universe to emerging markets following a spate of country reclassifications in MSCI indices.
Baillie Gifford has announced the initial public offering (IPO) of its US Growth trust.
Philip Hammond has given a glowing endorsement of the UK’s financial services sector amid Brexit negotiations, insisting it is in the “mutual interest” of the UK and Europe that it is included in a free trade agreement.
