Small Talk

It has been suggested that it will be smaller companies that drag the UK economy out of it’s current sluggish situation. We asked the team behind one of the UK Smaller Companies funds on our First Class Funds list, Investec Asset Management, to talk us through some of the opportunities and pitfalls of investing in this market.

Please note that this article is for information only and should not be interpreted as an invitation to invest or as investment advice. These are the thoughts of the manager at the time of writing and are subject to change. Past performance is not a guide to future returns and the value of funds and the income from them can fall as well as rise.

Read the full article here UK Smaller Companies

Going Global For Income

Growth investors have embraced foreign markets for many years, while income investors have tended to stick closer to home. Is it now time for income investors to broaden their horizons? Alan Porter, manager of the Martin Currie Global Equity Income fund, examines the case for looking further afield.

Please note that this article is for information only and should not be interpreted as an invitation to invest or as investment advice. These are the thoughts of the manager at the time of writing and are subject to change. Past performance is not a guide to future returns and the value of funds and the income from them can fall as well as rise.

Read his views here Global Equity Income

Do You Need Strategic Bonds?

Nick Gartside, Manager of JPM’s Strategic Bond fund, talks about the advantages of investing in Strategic Bond funds and how he runs the JPM fund in this sector. Please note that this is for information only and should not be interpreted as an invitation to invest or as investment advice. These are the thoughts of the manager at the time of writing and are subject to change. Past performance is not a guide to future returns and the value of funds and the income from them can fall as well as rise.

Read his views here Strategic Bonds

Award Winners

At the recent OBSR awards, the accolades for ‘Outstanding Fund Manager of the Year’ went to

Ian Spreadbury, manager of Fidelity’s Strategic Bond fund and

John Chatfeild-Roberts, Algy Smith-Maxwell and Peter Lawery of Jupiter’s Merlin team

The ‘Outstanding New Talent’ award went to Richard Hodges, manager of Legal & General’s Dynamic Bond Trust

Read the full story here

 

Income Ideas

The latest in our series on obtaining income leads us to foreign climes as we look at taking income from European companies. Many investors are comfortable investing for growth outside the UK but stay closer to home for their income requirements. We have asked Steven Maxwell, manager of the OBSR A-rated SWIP European Income fund for his views and you can read his thoughts here

This article is for information only and should not be read as an invitation to invest or taken as investment advice. If you would like further information about the fund, a factsheet is available in the ‘Fund Information’ section on our website or contact us on info@financialdiscounts.com or by calling our Customer Services team on 0500 498477. The fund is available through us at NO INITIAL CHARGE for ISA investment and at 1% outside the ISA wrapper.

Too Big To Fail?

Are Spain and Italy too big to succumb to the Eurozone debt crisis? Paul Causer and Paul Read, managers of Invesco Perpetual’s Tactical Bond and Monthly Income Plus funds, believe so and are investing accordingly. Are they right?

Read about it here

Income Ideas

Over the summer we will run some articles about the different ways in which funds aim to produce income for investors. These articles are for information only and should not be read as an invitation to invest or taken as investment advice. We will look at, among other things, multi asset funds and regional income funds but we start with how one fund group is tackling one of the major issues of the moment – inflation. The Aegon Inflation Linked Fund was launched in 2010 and aims to produce an attractive level of income in an inflationary environment. To find out more about the fund please click Aegon Inflation Linked.

If you would like further information about the fund, a factsheet is available in the ‘Fund Information’ section on our website or contact us on info@financialdiscounts.com or by calling our Customer Services team on 0500 498477. The fund is available through us at NO INITIAL CHARGE for ISA investment and at 1% outside the ISA wrapper.

Will They Won’t They?

Will interest rates rise this year? Schroder’s Richard Buxton says not. Read his views here

Golden Future?

Is increasing geo-political tension creating the backdrop for a gold rally like that in the late ’70s and early ’80s?

Read more about the prospects for gold here

Will Rates Rise in 2011?

Stuart Thomson, Chief Economist with Ignis Asset Management, explains why he believes the MPC will keep rates on hold this year.

For the full article, click here