Standard Life has appointed Christopher Heckscher as Senior Vice President, US Credit. Heckscher previously covered investment grade and high yield bonds for 14 years at Wellington – not a prominent fixed income group in the UK, but well-known and respected by Morningstar's analysts in the US. The appointment continues with Standard Life’s strategy of building up their credit capabilities in the US, as covered previously here. Standard Life’s existing corporate bond range in the UK already invests in US issues, so thi
s appointment adds to their expertise and increases the group’s capacity, following rapid growth in the firm’s UK and European fixed income assets under management over the last five years.
Further changes in the UK life insurance sector
Further consolidation in the life insurance sector is possible as markets digested news of a possible bid for Barclays Bank to buy Standard Life Bank. Meanwhile L&G was reportedly preparing to fight off a possible approach from Resolution. Both Standard Life and L&G have significant retail asset management arms in the UK. Meanwhile Aviva announced the sale of its Australian business to National Australia Bank.
Gartmore appoints John Bennett’s Pan-European Equity Analysis team from GAM
Gartmore announced the appointment of Asim Rahman and Christian Billinger as Investment Analysts and Eleanor Cameron as Manager (Dealing & Operations) from GAM. Gartmore anticipates they will join in 2010 when John Bennett is also scheduled to join. The team will assume responsibility for the Gartmore European Selected Opportunities and Gartmore SICAV Continental European Funds. Existing managers Roger Guy and Guillaume Rambourg will run the funds until the new team joins. Bennett and his team have a tough act follow as the existing Gartmore duo built an exceptional record on these funds. We’re never happy to see retail investors lose access to a talented manager, but Bennett brings strong credentials to the table. We covered the appointment of Bennett and his previous track record in detail here.
Threadneedle announces launch of SICAV range
Threadneedle announced the launch of the Threadneedle (Lux) SICAV range of funds. 16 funds will be managed by Threadneedle and a further seven will be run by sub-advisors because they are in sectors where Threadneedle doesn’t believe they have the expertise internally. A number of the internally managed funds will have their fund names and objectives amended although the full details of these changes have not yet been made public.
Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued this week
Morningstar issued new qualitative ratings and reports on a number of funds available to UK investors this week, including Blackrock Global Funds – World Energy and CIS Sustainable Leaders trust. Click here to see the full list.