Fund Hot News

Private equity is a term that has developed over the 20th Century during various boom and bust cycles, and with this came the terming of various asset classes – namely the various kinds of private equity investment. Under this broad heading two major sub sectors came about in the form of leveraged buyouts and venture capital.

The first era of the private equity age came about from 1946 through to 1981, which saw relatively low levels of private equity investment – where the term still did not mean a great deal to the vast majority of investors. What is known as the First Boom and Bust Cycle took place from 1982 to 1993, which saw a large increase in leveraged buyouts climaxing in the huge buyout of the RJR Nabisco. This occurred just before the leverage buyout industry collapsed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Continue reading ‘Private Equity – A Modern History’ »

Whenever Wall Street comes up with a new product it behooves Main Street to be skeptical about the hype. In this article we are going to look under the hood of the latest product to get the UK financial services market in a tizz: the multi-asset fund. Whilst there is nothing new in having a balanced fund of bonds and equities, there are more and more funds being launched that offer access to a broader range of asset classes, including: private equity, commodities, bonds, equities property, and hedge funds. What is also new about these products is the low cost structures that they are being offered in.

Low cost structures have become a reality as the result of consumer demand. After years of being hammered by large fees these have finally come under the microscope as fund values have plummeted. It seems a bit rich to pay someone 3% per annum to manage the dramatic decline of your assets. The advent of Exchange Traded Funds and Exchange Traded Notes are the other driver behind multi-asset funds. Now fund managers can use these listed tools to access a broad range of asset classes. Indeed the Gold ETF is though to have boosted the price in gold as it was formerly quite tricky to invest in without purchasing the physical product. Continue reading ‘Multi Asset Funds – Are They Any Good?’ »