Company briefs
Insinger issues a word of caution to equity investors
Amsterdam-based private bank Insinger de Beaufort has gone against the grain with a cautious note to European equity investors. “The consensus view is built around the fact that interest rates are likely to rise in the second half of 2004. But the expectation of rate rises will have more effect on equities than the actual increase,” said Dave Williams, fund manager at Insinger. Despite this, Insinger prefers European to US markets. Oil services and equipment stocks are favoured. Insinger uses funds from Odey Asset Management, JO Hambro Capital Management and Thames River Capital.
Danske picks Schroders for Japanese products
Danske Invest, Denmark’s largest unit trust group, has chosen Schroder Investment Management to sub-advise on $36m (E29m) of Japanese equities. The E12bn Danish group’s move into open architecture started with selecting Aberdeen to run E250m in global emerging market and Asia ex-Japan equities last year. AllianceBernstein was picked to run E40m in global value equities in January. These funds were previously managed by group affiliate Danske Capital.
Afina Gestión trades again after accounting check
Spanish regulator CNMV has lifted the trading suspension of six mutual funds and nine investment companies managed by Commerzbank subsidiary Afina Gestión. Two weeks of close examination concluded the valuation errors, detected by Afina, were minimal. But Afina will replace its accounting software. “We are very happy that our funds are trading again,” said Francisco Neri at Afina Gestión in Madrid. “What we have learnt from this is that our control system actually works, allowing us to detect minor errors and correct them.”
