Money Central - Times Online - WBLG

Don't follow the herd

Although people like to think of themselves as independent-minded souls the reality is that, when it comes to investment, they tend to follow the herd.

Unsung heroes

Some investment groups are natural headline grabbers while others shun the limelight

Lies, damned lies and statistics

The person who coined the phrase “there are lies, damned lies and statistics” had a point. It’s all too easy to use a particular set of figures to prove a point.

Every dog has its day

Each year a number of financial experts produce a list of ‘dog’ funds, which have performed consistently poorly over a number of years when compared with their peers.

Your flexible fund

Many people expected that the new rules governing investment funds, known as UCITS III, which came into force in April 2004, would lead to many equity fund managers making use of the greater flexibility they offered

Beware bond funds

The latest performance figures for corporate bond funds make grim reading for the private investors who have poured millions into them over the past five years

Don't neglect your Isas

This is traditionally the ‘fallow’ time for investors in Individual Savings Accounts (Isas). After the rush to buy an Isa before the end of the tax year in April they tend to fold their arms and forget about these tax-efficient investments until the season starts again next January.

The temptations of overseas property

This month’s launch of the New Star International Property fund promises to be one of the most significant of the year for the industry as a whole.

Fund managers are like fine wines

When Tony Blair steps down as Prime Minister next month after a decade in Downing Street he will be the longest-serving Labour premier in history and one of the longest-serving of all time from any party.

Pushing the frontiers out

An up and coming fund management group is set to go where other fund groups fear to tread when it launches a new investment trust next month.

Multi-managers have their uses

Whether you love them or hate them, multi-manager funds can provide canny investors with a wealth of information

Questions to ask your hedge fund manager

So now it’s official - UK private investors will be able to put their cash into funds of hedge funds from early 2008.

Is this a New Dawn for Japan?

The Japanese stock market has experienced so many false dawns since the early 1990s that commentators are wary of being too optimistic about it for fear of being proved wrong again.

Principles and profits can go hand in hand

Ethical investors will be heartened by two pieces of news this week

Should you invest in Russia and China?

The stock markets of both Russia and China have boomed in the past year, propelling funds investing in these countries to the top of the performance tables.

Slaughtering sacred cows

Unit trust investors are continuing to pour money into commercial property. It was the single most popular asset for private investors putting money into funds last year.

Fees are no guide to performance

Fund charges across Europe are rising, but investors are not getting better performance for the extra money they are paying.

Build your team from the back

Most fund managers like to emphasise their positive stockpicking abilities when they talk about how they run their funds.

What's on the fund menu

When you have a meal in a restaurant you expect to see a detailed menu before you order your food. This means that when you come to pay your bill, you know exactly what your money was spent on.
The same rules do not apply in the world of fund management.

Stakeholders can prove expensive

Figures released this month sbow that most parents with a Child Trust Fund (CTF) are choosing to open a Stakeholder fund for their children’s money.

Norwich Union to use upfront commission to boost regular savings

Norwich Union is attempting to boost the number of people who invest regularly in its funds.
It argues, persuasively, that there should be a better balance between lump sum investments and regular savings into funds

Bonds offer shelter in turbulent times

Bond funds have not produced a very exciting performance this year but cautious investors are now looking to them as a safe haven in turbulent times

Putting your money where your mouth is

What’s the best way of ensuring that a fund manager is really focused on delivering good performance for his investors?

A long-term view on funds

They say that distance lends perspective and it’s certainly true that a look at the five and ten year fund performance tables throws up some interesting comparisons between different sectors

Big can be beautiful

Can elephants gallop? That’s the question investors need to ask themselves before putting their money into a very large unit or investment trust.

Why you should keep an eye on fund takeovers

One of the reasons for investing in unit trusts or Oeics is laziness. Instead of having to research and keep constantly up to date on thousands of individual companies we simply fill out a form and send a cheque to a handful of fund managers and they do all the hard work for us. But every so often we have to get off the sofa and do some digging for ourselves - and we could be about to hit one of those times.

What will be 'hot' this Isa season?

Investing in an Isa might be the last thing on your mind, but it will be preoccupying fund-management firms

Best to be ethical in the long-run?

Ethical funds may struggle to outperform their mainstream rivals but they are more likely to survive than their non-ethical peers

It can be rash to be cautious

The golden rule of making money out of shares is to go against your instincts. This is best shown by contrarian investors and the success of equity income funds, which make a virtue out of investing in shares that are out of favour. But it is hard to make yourself go against the grain, as is borne out by the billions of pounds currently pouring into so-called cautious managed funds

Emerging market trusts link up

Shareholders in the F&C Emerging Markets investment trust will be breathing a sigh of relief that someone has ridden to their rescue at last. This trust, which has effectively agreed a takeover by JP Morgan Fleming's rival emerging markets fund, has been a serial underperformer for ten years, albeit against some pretty strong comparisons.