For Distributors of International Fund, Life and Banking Products www.international-adviser.com
NEWS
EEA launches BVI
‘black box’ fund 5
QROPS to face PBR
shake-up 5
Guernsey considers
tax cap to lure wealthy 5
Fund manager Arch buys
stake in IFA FP Int’l 7
Fortis bailout ends ABN
Channel Islands tie-up 7
Crosby closes Forsyth
funds as investors walk 7
Sparinvest rolls out trio
of asset allocator funds 8
Isle of Man deposit-takers
to fall after B&B rescue 8
Old Mutual SA investors
get new fund capability 10
SEI gains Saudi foothold
with bank deal 10
MPL gains Singapore
distribution rights 12
SLI/SPILA rebranded
Royal London 360° 12
Managers: Ucits rules
hinder performance 12
HSBC unveils MENA
product 15
FSA grants approval for
Fairbairn UK service 16
Standard Life Int’l
sale rocket to £593m 19
Dublin life offices sign up
to Acuity fund service 19
OECD: offshore centres
impede tax openness 52
Features – page 4
News analysis 21-22
GCC monetary
union As plans
progress for
a single Gulf
currency, we look
at the financial
sector implications
Multi-asset alternatives
fund from Fidelity Int’l
BY DANIEL JUDGE
Fidelity International is
planning a new multi-asset
fund, which will provide
exposure to a range of
traditional and non-mainstream
asset classes.
The product, expected
to be domiciled in
Luxembourg, will have a
fund of funds structure
and underlying assets
will include infrastructure,
REITs, commodities,
emerging market and high
yield debt, global bonds
and up to 40% in what
is termed ‘alternatives’,
which could include hedge
funds, private equity and
other non-listed assets.
Provisionally called the
Alternative Growth Fund,
CMI targets UK non-doms with trust plan
BY HELEN BURGGRAF
Clerical Medical International
(CMI) has introduced
a new trust plan
aimed at non-domiciled
UK residents who wish to
avoid paying the £30,000
remittance taxation charge
introduced this year.
The excluded property
trust (EPT) allows nondomiciled
UK residents
to protect their overseas
Proposed initial asset allocation
Alternatives 40%
REITs 20% Emerging
mkt debt 10%
Source: Fidelity International
it will have a target return
of Libor plus 4.5% gross
of charges and has been
designed to achieve a
diversified base of returns
with lower volatility than
many mainstream funds.
assets from becoming
liable to inheritance tax if
they should become domiciled,
or if they have UKdomiciled
beneficiaries,
according to CMI.
It is only available to
those who already own or
are interested in investing
in a CMI Global Investor
offshore bond, according
to Rod Macdonald, intermediary
life marketing
manager for the company.
Fund selector 25-28
Japan equities
An analysis of the
best performing,
newest and
biggest funds
investing in this
unloved market
Infrastructure 5%
Plans for the fund were
revealed at International
Adviser’s Fund Links Forum
event, which was held in
London in September (for
full coverage, see Feature
on pages 35-38).
For this reason, the new
EPT would not be suitable
for UK domiciled investors,
nor could it include
UK-situated property.
Commodities 5%
EPT PRODS
In introducing an excluded
property trust, CMI joins
a raft of life companies
with such products. Others
offering them include Scottish
Life International, Fidelity
FundsNetwork and Skandia.
Overseas
bonds 10%
High yield 10%
OCTOBER 2008
Skandia, FPI
and ZIL fall
foul of Russia
pension scam
Royal Skandia, Friends
Provident International
(FPI) and Zurich International
(ZIL) paid out
huge sums in commission
to a Moscow-based IFA
who has since fled with
millions, it has emerged.
It is believed the adviser,
a UK national based in
Russia, set up a fake group
pension scheme with
Skandia for a local security
company with about 150
employees.
Premiums were paid for
the first few months of the
scheme but ceased when
commission, variously
running into hundreds of
thousands or even millions
of pounds according to
some sources, was paid to
the intermediary.
Royal Skandia, presciently
as it turned out,
brought in ZIL to share the
risk of the deal before the
fraud was revealed. FPI
is thought to have been
approached by the same
adviser in a separate but
identical scam.
The incident occurred
in 2005 but has only now
come to light during an
IA investigation for a feature
into the risks to life
companies of operating in
unregulated markets.
Continued on page 7
Feature 35-38
IA Fund Links
Forum 2008 Full
coverage of our
annual gathering
of the leading
lights in offshore
finance
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