Credit Suisse Asset Management joint head of multi-manager Gary Potter has questioned the value of holding single-manager multi-asset portfolios within a fund of funds.
One of the target markets for the recently launched King & Shaxson ethical balanced income fund, which applies a multi-asset approach to ethical investment, is multi-managers. But Potter, who runs a multi-manager ethical fund for Credit Suisse, believes multi-managers will prefer to make their own asset allocation calls. Potter says he is not against multi-asset portfolios but he thinks the problem is that they are difficult to put into practice because success depends on the quality of asset allocation and market views. Potter believes few managers are able to consistently make the right decision on when to move between asset classes. He says a manager may get two out of three decisions right but one wrong decision may wipe out their previous good work. In his view, trying to get ahead by switching asset classes too early could mean multi-asset funds underperform traditional funds. Potter says: “I think multi-asset solutions are an interesting concept but we have to look at what multi-asset really means. It is a few buzzwords linked together and gives the impression of an all-round product that can invest in a number of different areas to achieve the objective. It sounds great. All you do is move more money into bonds before equities collapse and back into equities before bonds collapse but I have rarely come across people who can consistently do that. “Everyone was calling the end of the world in June but markets got back to a high. Had a multi-asset fund taken a bearish stance in June and moved very defensively in reaction to market views, it would have been caught out.”Recommended
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BlackRock MLIM European dynamic fund manager Niall Gallagher has left the group to join US fund manager T Rowe Price.Gallagher has run the £191m fund for three years and returned top quartile figures over one and three years.The fund will pass to head of European equities James Macmillan who lead manages the £190m continental European […]
Ban is urged for transfer commission
Suffolk Life director of sales and marketing John Moret has called for a ban on the payment of commission for advice on pension transfer business. Speaking at Money Marketing Live in Manchester on Tuesday, Moret said that by paying commission on transfer business, life offices could be accused of not treating customers fairly. He said […]
Barclays – Guaranteed Annual Income Equity Deposit Account – Issue November 2006
Barclays
Guaranteed Annual Income Equity Deposit Account – Issue November 2006
iFunds – MFM iFunds ETF Global Growth Fund
iFunds
MFM iFunds ETF Global Growth Fund

Family pressures (and the impact on pension savings)
A report from the Centre for the Modern Family out last week presents some interesting — and perhaps rather worrying — findings.
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