Desire for with-profits drives managed fund growth

News Analysis

Cautious Managed group is prospering due to bear market concerns and investor interest in low-risk portfolios

The bear market in the early years of the decade and the decline of with-profits vehicles' popularity has led to the Cautious Managed sector growing from just 22 funds five years ago to 64 today. There have been 22 launches over the past three years alone, according to data from Standard & Poor's, 12 of which came in the early months of 2005. However, intermediaries and fund of fund managers dispute that this raft of launches came out purely in response to the end of the long-running bear market, feeling they were more due to investors' quest for diversified, low-risk portfolios. Craig H...