swip

Swip's Rory Hammerson, manager of its Pan-European Equity, Smaller Companies and SRI funds, has departed the group after more than 12 years.

Times are tough on Madison Avenue. As customers' sales slide, they cast around for quick budget savings.

The head of UK equities at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) Robert Waugh has left the firm.

When making asset allocation decisions, the temptation is always to opt for markets and funds that are performing well.

Swip has launched three emerging markets funds, focussing on infrastructure, smaller companies and Latin America respectively.

Japanese Smaller Companies sector makes gains of 25.4% over the last year

Swip has named Luke Hickmore and Neil Murray as the managers on four of its bond funds, following the defection of four of its fixed income team to Alliance Trust.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership has launched its UK Enhanced Equity fund, a vehicle using call options in a bid to provide additional returns over the FTSE 100.

The flow of multi-asset launches to the retail market looks set to continue in coming months, with Swip, Franklin Templeton and Julius Baer outlining plans for new strategies.

All 14 vehicles in European peer group hit double-digit returns over the past six months, bouncing back from a difficult 2008