It has been a difficult time for natural resources stocks and energy companies with the slump in commodity prices hitting their profits. The decline has been of such severity that it has had a significant impact on the economies that are dependent on these sectors of the market. One example is Canada, where the fall…
Lots of people are nervous about the prospects for the markets going into 2016 because of the threat of higher interest rates in the US and UK and the risk of a further slowdown in China. Investors who are uncomfortable with the outlook might want to consider a targeted absolute return fund. A good example…
One of the attractions of investing in closed-ended funds is that the shares can trade at a discount to their underlying Net Asset Value (NAV). This gives you the chance to pick up a real bargain, which is not something you can do with an open-ended fund. There are several fund-of-funds that aim to exploit…
A recent survey of financial advisors conducted by Schroders found that the three fund sectors that they are most likely to recommend for 2016 are: Mixed Investment 20%-60% Shares, UK Equity Income and UK All Companies. Other parts of the market like Strategic Bond funds that were popular last year are no longer on their…
As featured in this month’s magazine. The pension freedoms that came into force in April have resulted in a massive change to the way that people finance their retirement. Data from the Association of British Insurers shows that in the first six months under the new rules a total of £2.85bn was invested in income…
Trustnet Direct, the retail investment platform from FE, has recently published a list of the best and worst performing UK unit trusts and OEICs in the first 11 months of 2015. There are more than 4,000 of these funds to choose from and the divergent returns shows what a significant difference your investment decisions can…
Most fund managers go to a lot of time and trouble to meet the senior directors of the companies that they invest in. They think that this can help them to get a better insight into the business and the people behind it, but Jeremy Lang of Ardevora UK Income believes otherwise. Lang thinks that…
The price of gold has been trending lower and is now trading at less than $1,100 per ounce, which is close to a six year low. One of the main reasons is the growing likelihood of an increase in US interest rates that has driven the dollar higher. The strong currency makes the dollar denominated…
The recent market weakness has created a possible a buying opportunity for P2P Global Investments (P2P), the specialist investment trust that provides exposure to a portfolio of peer-to-peer loans. Its shares have fallen from more than £11.50 in February to around £10 and now trade at a small discount to NAV with a prospective yield…
Terry Smith’s Fundsmith Equity fund recently passed its fifth anniversary. Over the last five years it has returned 115.9%, which puts it in third place out of the 203 funds in the Investment Association’s Global Sector. This impressive performance has helped it to attract £4.1bn of assets under management. Smith is an outspoken critic of…
