NEWS briefs

Fortis first to exploit EU fund regulations

Fortis L Fund has become one of the first funds to obtain cross-border status under Europe’s Ucits III regulations. This allows the fund, managed by the E81bn Belgo-Dutch group Fortis Investments, more flexibility in selecting financial instruments, including money market products, other investment funds and bank deposits. The Luxembourg-registered umbrella fund boasts 90 sub-classes.

DST highlights private client area for growth

DST International, which provides technological business solutions to investment managers, has expanded its European sales team, appointing Carl Lauer from COR Risk Services, Katherine Darbyshire from Financial Objects and Tim McGowan from Thompson Financial. It has highlighted private wealth and risk management as two key areas for expansion.

UK private wealth firms get larger and more profitable

Seventeen per cent of the private wealth managers in the UK manage 80 per cent of the country’s private client funds, with the largest firms getting larger and potentially more profitable. These figures are included in the findings of a study by Market-Dynamics Research and Consulting. The research also highlighted that the value of the funds under management for high net worth individuals has exceeded £350bn (e523bn) for the first time.

Keogh joins SEI from Zurich

SEI Investments has appointd Chris Keogh as managing director of Wealth in its London office, to lead a new strategy aimed at enhancing SEI’s position in the UK adviser marketplace. Mr Keogh joins from Zurich Financial Services, where he created a new financial planning business targeting high net worth clients. “The UK high net worth market holds significant opportunities for quality advisers,” said Mr Keogh.