The managers of the Norwich UK Special Situations fund say market volatility is creating excellent investment opportunities.
The managers of the Norwich UK Special Situations fund say market volatility is creating excellent investment opportunities.
Richard Buxton, manager of the Norwich UK Special Situations fund, said: "The recent fall in markets has created some excellent buying opportunities. Whilst the easy money has been made over the last three years, this shakeout doesn’t signal the start of a new bear market, but investors are going to have to be much more selective in order to make money.
“Being unconstrained means that we are able to go anywhere across the market and invest in situations we believe are special, money-making opportunities. Many large companies are on compelling valuations, with major stocks like Barclays or Vodafone yielding over 5%. Favoured midcap names include Carillion, Charter and Dana Petroleum, each of which is seeing the benefits of pricing power within its markets.”
The Ł200m Norwich UK Special Situations fund has been designed exclusively for Norwich Union and is jointly managed by Richard Buxton, manager of Schroder UK Alpha Plus fund, and Andy Brough, manager of Schroder UK Mid 250 fund.
The fund was launched on 22 May 2006 and is designed to provide long-term outperformance of the FTSE All Share by combining the best stock ideas from both managers. It will hold between 40 and 60 stocks.
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Notes to editors:
About the Norwich UK Special Situations fund
Fund size: Ł200m. Approximate number of holdings at launch: 50 stocks. IMA sector: UK All Companies. Benchmark: FTSE All Share index. Initial charge: 5%. Revised fund charges AMC: 1.5%. TER: 1.8%. Standard initial commission: 3%. Standard renewal commission: 0.5%. Investment levels for ISA investors: lumps sums Ł500, regular monthly savings Ł50.
About the fund managers
The funds will be managed by Andy Brough, manager of the Schroder UK Mid 250 fund, and Richard Buxton, manager of Schroder UK Alpha Plus fund.
Andy Brough’s fund is 1st quartile over 1, 3 and 5 years and his fund is AAA rated by S&P and OBSR. Richard Buxton’s fund is 1st quartile over 1 and 3 years. It is AA rated by S&P, and A rated by OBSR.
About Schroders Plc
Schroders is a global asset management company with Ł122.5 ($211.0 / €178.2) billion under management as at 31 December 2005. Its clients are major financial institutions including banks and insurance companies, local and public authorities, charities, pension funds, high net worth individuals and retail investors.
Its aim is to apply specialist asset management skills in serving the needs of clients worldwide and in delivering value to our shareholders. With one of the largest networks of offices of any dedicated asset management company and over 250 portfolio managers and analysts covering the world's investment markets, we offer clients a comprehensive range of products and services.
Further information about Schroders can be found at www.schroders.com. Issued by Schroder Investment Management Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. For regular updates by e-mail please register online at www.schroders.com for our alerting service.
About Norwich Union
Norwich Union is the UK’s largest insurer. It is a leading provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the largest financial adviser (FA) providers. FAs provide over 70% of the company's long-term savings business in the UK.
Norwich Union is the UK’s largest general insurer with a market share of around 14%, with a focus on insurance for individuals and small businesses.
Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media