LIFE NEWS
IFA package
from Clerical
Medical widens
fund offerings
Clerical Medical, HBOS’s
Bristolbased insurance
arm, is launching 18 new
funds as part of a new
package of products and
services aimed at IFAs.
Several of the funds are
managed by wellknown
names in the UK asset management
industry including
Standard Life’s Harry
Nimmo, Schroders’ Richard
Buxton and Aberdeen’s
Hugh Young.
The package, Clerical
Medical Investment Solutions
(CMIS), will include
investment research services
and access to 36 funds
– including the 18 new ones
– as part of a proposition
designed to support IFAs in
running their businesses.
One component of the
CMIS is a webbased portfolio
modelling tool, Portfolio
Architect, that Clerical
Medical managing director
John Van Der Wielen said
will help IFAs to pull their
portfolios together.
IFAs make use of this
portfolio modelling tool
by allocating one of ten
risk profiles to their client,
and then employing this
to assemble a basket of
appropriate investments.
A new investment committee,
which will appoint
managers to new fund
mandates, is another key
part of the new package.
12
FPI sees sharp drop in sales
figures during third quarter
By Helen Burggraf
Friends Provident International’s
(FPI) life and
pensions business fell by
32% in the third quarter, as
it struggled against a strong
comparable three months
in 2007.
But over the full nine
months to the end of
September, international
life and pensions sales
were still 29% higher than
in the same period of 2007,
at £168.4m. FPI said the
increase reflected the company’s
strategy of prioritising
international growth.
In announcing its thirdquarter
results, FPI also
said it had decided to retain
and “develop” Lombard,
its Luxembourgbased,
highnetworthfocused
wealth management operation,
as it was unable to
reach agreement with a
Generali Int’l adds Castlestone Aliquot Commodity Ucits
Generali International, the
Guernseybased offshore
arm of Italian insurance
giant Assicurazioni Generali,
has added Castlestone
Management’s Ucitscompliant
Aliquot Commodity
Index (Ucits) Fund to its
unitlinked fund range.
It is the first time Generali
has offered a Castlestone
fund on its platform.
The Dublindomiciled
Aliquot Commodity Fund,
launched in July, offers
investors 100% exposure
to commodities, with no
exposure to stocks or stock
indices. This makes it useful
for diversifying portfolios,
according to Generali
International head of mar
buyer for the business.
It also said it will go
ahead with plans to distribute
its 52% stake in F&C
Asset Management – which
it had also been looking to
sell – to its shareholders.
FPI plans to develop
more fully the overseas
markets it has recently
entered, such as Dubai,
Germany and Singapore.
But Rocco Sepe, FPI managing
director, said new
countries were also under
FPI 2008 sales
New business (APE)* First 9 mths ’08 £m First 9 mths ’07 £m
asia 86 67
uK 11 16
Middle east 32 14
europe (excluding uK) 26 22
rest of world 13 11
Total FPI 168.4 130.1
* annualised premium equivalent (aPe) represents annualised new regular premiums plus 10%
of single premiums. Source: fPI
ABI figures showing shift in offshore bond sales
Thirdquarter singlepremium
offshore bond business
was up more than 10%
on 2007’s figure, to reach
nearly £2bn, according to
data from the Association
of British Insurers (ABI).
But for the year as
a whole to the end of
September, sales were
down 1.7% on the previous
year.
FuNd FactS
Domicile: Dublin
Min investment: $1,000,
£1,000 or €1,000
Annual charge: 1.75%
Offshore bond sales for
regular premium business
suffered a drop yearonyear
to £4m, falling nearly
25%; and when comparing
thirdquarter 2008 to the
same period in 2007, it saw
a decline of 17.7%.
Other data showed total
single premium individual
pensions new business
in Q3 2008 was £4.35bn,
keting Dick Brennan. Such
diversification is particularly
important during times
of economic uncertainty,
he added.
Castlestone founder and
joint chief executive, Angus
Murray, described the fund
as “truly actively managed”.
According to Castlestone,
there are few actively managed
commodity funds
currently on the market,
and of those, few have
Castlestone’s flexibility to
INTERNATIONAL ADVISER [www.international-adviser.com] DEcEmbER 2008
consideration: “Continuing
to expand into new territories
will definitely be part
of our push.” He did not
say which other countries
the company is assessing.
As for Lombard, Sepe
said: “We think it is a fantastic
business with huge
potential. It is the only
company that is providing
bespoke solutions for clients
of private banks who
need specialised estate
planning solutions.”
a decrease of 18% from
£5.31bn in 2007. Total
regular premium individual
pensions new business
was £783m, down 4%
from £816m.
Total single premium
investment and savings
new business in Q3
2008, on and offshore, was
£5.78bn, a decrease of 42%
from £9.99bn.
quickly reduce exposure
to overpriced assets while
increasing the weighting
of those with greater
upside potential.
This is because most
other commodity funds
match their investments to
one of the popular commodity
indexes, preventing
them from actively
changing their holdings in
response to market conditions,
according to the
company.
BarCap unveils
protected
deposits for
offshore bonds
Barclays Capital, the investment
banking division of
Barclays, has launched
two new products in its
Structured Deposit Series
for offshore bonds, available
until 30 Dec.
The Five Year Guaranteed
Arabia Titans 50
Deposit Account and Five
Year Guaranteed FTSE
100 Deposit Account offer,
respectively, “protected
access” to Arab stocks
via the Dow Jones Arabia
Titans 50 Index, and UKlisted
stocks as represented
by the FTSE 100 Index.
As in the past, the two
new deposit account products
are designed exclusively
as investment links
for use within offshore
bonds, said Barclays.
Barclays launched the
Structured Deposit Series in
June 2006 in order to give
offshore investors a structured
product in a deposit
account format with capital
protection that is designed
specifically for inclusion in
offshore bonds.
A FTSE 100linked product
is now offered about
every two months since
the series was launched,
reflecting investors’ affection
for the UK’s benchmark
index, with exposure
to other indices, and even
funds, typically offered
alongside, in response to
market appetites.
Investors may access the
deposits through most offshore
life bond providers,
with brochures and fact
sheets available to them for
downloading from Barclays
Capital’s productspecific
website, www.BarclaysOff
shoreSolutions.com.
Prod FactS
The Five Year Guaranteed
Arabia Titans 50 Deposit
Account requires a minimum
investment of $75,000, while
the Five Year Guaranteed
FTSE 100 Deposit Account
has a £50,000 minimum.
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