Equities

JAPAN

LIQUIDITY

As we move further away from the financial meltdown in the autumn of 2008, investors are once again focused on investment returns, leading to the consideration of higher alpha approaches to global equity investing.

UK equity managers remain bullish on the markets and expect up to 15% FTSE growth in the second half of the year despite weeks of sharp volatility.

Skandia has handed a £50m European equity mandate to Dirk Enderlein at Wellington Asset Management.

COLLINGS' CORNER

Europe has been the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons this year.

Worthwhile opportunities in US equities might have been overlooked by investors. Most jumped on the emerging markets train, which now looks overcrowded and heading towards a market bubble.

Franklin Templeton's Mark Mobius has been buying into BRIC stocks in the past month on the belief the current share slump is only a correction in a bull market.

Lazard Asset Management plans to soft-close James Donald's Emerging Markets funds and launch a new growth-orientated GEMs product.