For immediate release: Friday 30 January 1998
NEW UNIT TRUST "MANAGED FUND" SECTOR GOES LIVE
A new Managed Fund sector for the unit trust industry, set
up by the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds
(AUTIF), begins operating on Monday, 2 February 1998.
The new sector, comprising 36 funds from 6 other sectors,
namely International Equity and Bond, International Growth,
Fund of Funds, UK Growth and Income, UK Equity and Bond, and
UK Growth, brings the total number of AUTIF sectors to 26.
The move comes in response to demand from both product providers
and professional advisers for a category which covers a prescribed
broad spread of asset classes, and hence of risk, including
both UK and international equity, as well as bonds, cash or
property. Each fund in the new sector must adhere to the following
requirements:
- The portfolio must contain at least three asset classes,
with at least 50% denominated in £ sterling or hedged to
sterling.
- At least 35% must be held in UK equities.
- At least 10% must be held in non-UK equities.
- A balance of 10% or more should be held in one or more
of the following: UK Gilts or Bonds, non-UK Government or
Corporate Bonds or Cash or Property. The property element
may not exceed 10% of the portfolio value.
- Funds of funds are eligible for inclusion in the sector,
but the preceding rules apply to the underlying assets of
the combined funds’ portfolios.
Philip Warland, Director General of AUTIF, commented,
"The new Managed Fund sector will be an ideal first base
for new investors, looking to unit trusts to provide for
their long term financial security. It could well have a
part to play in any kitemarked ISA products. Unit trusts
overall are designed to spread risk, but our managed funds
must be even more broadly spread than most. We expect the
sector to have strong appeal, and to attract a number of
new launches."
For further comment please contact:
Philip Warland, Director General, AUTIF, 0171
831 0989
Anne McMeehan, Director of Comunications, AUTIF, 0171 831
0898
Emma Weiss, PR Manager, AUTIF, 0171 831 0898
Brian Harvey, Head of Statistics, AUTIF, 0171 831 0898
Notes to Editors:
- AUTIF, the industry’s trade body, divides all funds (currently
totalling 1,680) into pre-defined sectors. This labelling
system maps out the industry, placing all funds with similar
objectives in one group to enable private investors to match
up their investment objectives with those of the funds and
to allow relevant performance comparisons.
- All of the above reclassified funds maintain their performance
histories.
- Attached is a list of the funds in the new sector, and
an updated list of the complete AUTIF sector definitions.
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