6
NEWS
Nodjoumi: increased demand
Nexus predicts
major growth
for Middle East
Nexus, the Dubai-based
IFA firm, believes the
market for insurance products
in the Middle East is
set for double digit growth
in 2010 on the back of the
uncertainty created by the
financial crisis.
The company – which
was created in a management
buyout within
Zurich’s tied sales force in
the region in 2006 – has
hired a director of general
insurance, Rumi Sanjava,
to help manage what it
believes will be an upsurge
in business.
Nexus said the economic
slowdown in the region
was leading more people
to take out personal insurance
products to protect
against potential job losses
or salary cuts.
Mahmoud Nodjoumi,
owner and chief executive
of Nexus Group, said:
“Many people in the region
suffered financial uncertainty
in 2009 for the first time,
and we have already seen
that have a positive impact
on demand for personal
insurance products.”
Quoting a figure from
the Arab Insurance Market
Review, Nodjoumi said
overall insurance penetration
in the Gulf region was
1.1% compared with 7%
globally.
9,531 July ’08 – June ’09
Daniel Judge Editor
T +44 (0)20 7065 7567
E daniel.judge@lastwordmedia.com
Prudential Dynamic offering
provides risk-rating service
BY HELEN BURGGRAF
Prudential has launched a
range of five actively-managed,
risk-rated multi-asset
fund of funds.
The range, Prudential
Dynamic Portfolio, is
designed to enable financial
advisers to benefit
from the asset allocation,
research and risk-rating
Helen Burggraf Senior reporter
T +44 (0)20 7065 7568
E helen.burggraf@lastwordmedia.com
Simon Danaher Senior online reporter
T +44 (0)20 7065 7571
E simon.danaher@lastwordmedia.com
Dylan Emery Editorial director
T +44 (0)20 7065 7565
E dylan.emery@lastwordmedia.com
skills of Prudential’s inhouse
experts as well as
those of Old Broad Street
Research (OBSR).
Summarising the new
funds’ key selling point,
Prudential director of
investment funds Andy
Brown said: “They are run
to a risk target [rather than]
a return target.”
The five fund-of-funds
Dynamic P’folio Balanced asset allocation
Int’l equity 42%
Source: Prudential
Property 10%
Investment grade
corp bonds 21%
High yield
bonds 10%
UK equity 17%
Stephen Grasso Head of production
T +44 (0)20 7065 7571
E stephen.grasso@lastwordmedia.com
Ben Wiseman Head of sales & events
T +44 (0)20 7065 7573
E ben.wiseman@lastwordmedia.com
Mark Jennings Head of online
T +44 (0)20 7065 7562
E mark.jennings@lastwordmedia.com
have names reflecting
their respective risk levels:
Defensive, Cautious,
Cautious Growth, Balanced
and Adventurous.
The UK-domiciled Oeics
will be available on a range
of Prudential products,
including the International
Prudence Bond. The firm
said the Dynamic Portfolio
funds were a response to
demands from advisers for
investment products that
“can help them respond
to the changes driven by
the RDR and the ongoing
focus of the FSA’s Treating
Customers Fairly initiative”.
Prudential’s Portfolio
Management Group
(PMG), which looks after
more than £100bn worth
of investments, is responsible
for the asset allocation
of the five new funds,
while OBSR is handling
the risk profiling and
fund selection.
Hazel Capital comes clean on Ucits fund
BY SIMON DANAHER
Hazel Capital has launched
a Dublin-domiciled Ucits
III clean energy and technology
fund.
The Cleantech Equity
Fund aims to achieve
long-term capital growth
and returns in excess of
its benchmark, the NEX
Index, by investing in a
global portfolio of companies
operating in the
‘cleantech’ sector.
According to Hazel
Capital, the cleantech
sector comprises more than
1,000 environmental technology
and services companies,
with over $1trn in
market capitalisation working
in renewable energy,
renewable utilities, energy
efficiency, energy storage,
environmental sustainability,
alternative transportation
and water.
Ben Guest, founder of
Hazel Capital, said: “We
believe the greatest returns
will come from participating
in the growth of
companies which are
benefiting from the fundamental,
long-term shift
in energy supply and
conservation.
“This is not unlike an
investment approach successfully
applied to investing
in technology firms in
FACT BOX
Name: Hazel Global Cleantech
Equity Fund
Domicile: Dublin
Min investment: 10,000 £, $, €
Share classes: £, $, €
Type of fund: open-ended
absolute return fund of funds
Annual charge: 1.5%
Performance fee: 10% above
NEX hurdle with high water
mark
Launch date: 18 Jan ’10
the late ’80s and the ’90s.
We have identified a large,
under-penetrated market
opportunity.”
Emily Proctor Head of event operations
T +44 (0)20 7065 7561
E emily.proctor@lastwordmedia.com
Jamie Hinchliffe Publishing director
T +44 (0)20 7065 7572
E jamie.hinchliffe@lastwordmedia.com
Rod Boulogne Managing director
T +44 (0)20 7065 7560
E rod.boulogne@lastwordmedia.com
Former Close
MD banished
from Jersey
finance sector
BY DANIEL JUDGE
A former managing director
of Close Wealth
Management has been
banned from working in
Jersey’s finance industry
after being found to have
forged her qualifications
and for refusing to reveal
her true identity.
Pippa Harbour, who
only a year ago held the
position of MD of international
investment with
Close, will be breaking
the law if she takes up
employment with any
person or entity that is
registered with the
Jersey Financial Services
Commission (JFSC).
The ban follows
Harbour serving 240 hours
community service last July
after being found guilty
of falsifying her Reading
University degree and
London Business School
MBA when gaining employment
with Close, for whom
she worked in Guernsey
and Jersey.
According to reports in
the local press, during her
trial she refused to give
her date of birth or real
name to the court. It also
emerged that throughout
several years spent working
in Guernsey Harbour,
she had provided various
dates of birth and other
inconsistent information
on official documents.
Last week, the JFSC
issued a statement saying
that Harbour had been
barred from employment
in the financial sector and
that anyone employing her
would also be committing
a criminal offence.
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INTERNATIONAL ADVISER [www.international-adviser.com] FEBRUARY 2010
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