magazine archive
magazine archive
Funds
How to judge funds without a track record
Thursday 07 Feb 2019Investors are often told they should wait until a fund has a track record of at least three years before they trust their money to it. This is, it is said, long enough for the manager to prove that their strategy works and that the fund will perform as promised. But a fund needs money to invest in...
Fund managers take stock of the retail sector after festive trading updates
Thursday 31 Jan 2019While the Christmas trading period was definitely challenging for the UK’s retailers, the festive period didn’t deliver the Armageddon scenario many commentators and analysts had expected. But as the dust settles on the frenzied festive selling season, what do some fund managers make of the sector’...
The case for investing in micro caps through funds
Thursday 24 Jan 2019Macroeconomic uncertainties, the return of volatility and political turmoil suggest diversification will prove a key investment watchword in 2019. One way in which investors can diversify portfolios is by allocating funds to UK micro caps, often agile and fast-growing minnows offering better value...
Eight ways to invest in the thriving water sector
Thursday 17 Jan 2019Water is an essential resource for life – no one can live without it. Beyond its basic functions of sustaining life, water is also a precious commodity. Its supply is limited and global challenges such as population growth, urbanisation and climate change are putting existing water resources under...
Where European stocks stand two decades after the euro’s launch
Thursday 10 Jan 2019This month marks two decades since the introduction of the euro, when 12 European nations cast aside their own currencies to unite under a single coin. As the euro launched in 1999, investors saw spreads between core nations such as Germany and France tighten with those of peripheral members such...
Four investment funds to buy for 2019
Thursday 20 Dec 2018We recognise that many investors prefer to buy funds rather than individual company shares and often miss out when various investment experts give their top picks for the year ahead as these tend to solely focus on equities. As such, we’ve asked Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, to...
What fund managers learned in 2018
Thursday 13 Dec 2018This year has been one full of surprises for investors. From a trade war between the US and China to a stock market sell-off in October, many people will have been caught off guard by some of the curve balls which have been thrown up in recent months. With so much uncertainty in the air, we asked...
Does your fund manager need a PhD?
Thursday 06 Dec 2018It almost goes without saying that if you entrust your money to a fund manager, it’s because you believe that he or she knows what they are doing. We let fund managers invest on our behalf because we believe that they can do better job than we would be able to do ourselves. And that’s particularly...
Octopus extends its tentacles to equity income
Thursday 29 Nov 2018A new UK income fund has thrown its hat into the ring as investors search for reliable and regular dividend-paying investments. Octopus Investments will launch FP Octopus UK Multi Cap Income Fund on 10 December, targeting a 4% annual yield with dividends to be paid quarterly for the convenience of...
Blue Whale goes straight to the top end of the fund chart
Thursday 15 Nov 2018The team behind LF Blue Whale Growth Fund (BD6PG78) have set the bar very high with their debut performance. The product launched in September 2017 and went to the top end of the funds chart. In its first year, the fund outperformed the MSCI World index by 13.1% and the FTSE 100 index by 22.3%,...