Managed funds

‘Holding onto mid caps does hurt, it is undeniable’

F&C Investments has hired RWC's John Bennett as head of wholesale institutions as part of a move to rebuild its distribution team.

City Financial's Mark Harris has increased exposure to India following the election, despite concerns over the prospects for emerging markets if developed economies continue to wind up stimulus packages.

Liontrust has seen a rise in assets under management and a jump in pre-tax profits, after its acquisition of multi-asset business North Investment Partners last October.

ING's emerging markets hard currency debt team has increased its exposure to troubled former Soviet state Ukraine following the stand-off in Eastern Europe.

David Jane, founder of Darwin Investment Managers, is planning to diversify the Miton multi-asset funds and utilise excess cash to improve on recent poor returns.

Markets will grind higher, but the road will be a bumpy one, and risk trades still have their place explains Santander Asset Management's multi-asset chief Toby Vaughan.

Julie Dickson, equities portfolio manager at Ashmore, says despite a huge growth in the asset class, frontier markets remain an under-allocated asset class.

Franklin Templeton has soft-launched two multi-asset funds for recent hire Toby Hayes ahead of a full launch later this year.

Miton has said its multi-asset portfolios will continue to be positioned at the defensive end of the investment spectrum following the exit of manager Martin Gray.