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发表于 20-8-2007 22:35:00|来自:新加坡
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<div class="font18 fontB"><font size="4">Fund with a novel twist</font></div><p class="font14 fontB"><font size="4">Barclays's retail arm Celsius launches fund that promises to distribute 10% of investors' capital every year, reports GENEVIEVE CUA</font></p><p><table class="storyLinks" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="1" width="136" align="right" border="0"><tbody><tr class="font10"><td align="right" width="20"><a href="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/money/story/0,4574,245010,00.html?#"><font size="4"><img height="15" src="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/static/image/images/story_email.gif" width="16" border="0" alt=""/></font></a></td><td><a href="javascript:window.open('/sendmail/1,4561,245010,00.html?', 'name', 'resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=500,height=380');void('');"><font size="4">Email this article</font></a></td></tr><tr class="font10"><td align="right" width="20"><a href="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/money/story/0,4574,245010,00.html?#"><font size="4"><img height="15" src="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/static/image/images/story_print.gif" width="16" border="0" alt=""/></font></a></td><td><a href="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/html/btpre/registration/redirect.jsp?dlink=/sub/storyprintfriendly/0,4582,245010,00.html?"><font size="4">Print article </font></a></td></tr><tr class="font10"><td align="right" width="20"><a href="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/money/story/0,4574,245010,00.html?#"><font size="4"><img height="15" src="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/static/image/images/story_feedback.gif" width="16" border="0" alt=""/></font></a></td><td><a href="javascript:window.open('/sendmail/1,4561,245010-EmailReporter,00.html?', 'name', 'resizable,scrollbars=yes,width=500,height=400');void('');"><font size="4">Feedback</font></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p><font size="4"></font></p><p><font size="4">FUNDS that pay an income usually do so out of dividends, capital gains or bond coupons earned. But now a new fund promises to distribute 10 per cent of investors' capital every year.</font></p><p><font size="4"></font></p></span></p><p><font size="4"></font></p><p><font size="4">FUNDS that pay an income usually do so out of dividends, capital gains or bond coupons earned. But now a new fund promises to distribute 10 per cent of investors' capital every year.</font></p><p><font size="4"></font></p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><table class="picBoxL" cellspacing="2" width="100" align="left"><tbody><tr><td><a href="javascript:openwindow('/local/picturepopup/0,4661,91940-70000,00.html?');"><font size="4"><img alt="" src="http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2007-08-15/BT_IMAGES_GCBARCLAYS.jpg" width="185" border="0"/></font></a></td></tr><tr class="caption"><td><font size="4"><b>Advantage: </b>The Life Select fund is open-ended, which means investors can subscribe or redeem at any time at the prevailing net asset value </font></td></tr></tbody></table><p><font size="4">The Life Select Income Fund is one of two new offers from Celsius Funds, the retail funds arm of Barclays.</font></p><p><font size="4">The capital repayment is guaranteed for 10 years, after which the fund aims to generate dividends to pay out. Is this an attractive proposition?</font></p><p><font size="4">First off, the fund is a novel twist on a fairly familiar structure that was popular among the early series of protected and guaranteed funds between 2000 and 2002. At the core is a form of portfolio insurance, where the portfolio gets an exposure to the market in an automated way, as long as the capital is not compromised.</font></p><p><font size="4">This means that as long as the underlying market is strong, the exposure to equities or any risk asset can be as much as 100 per cent. In a bear market, this could ratchet down to zero. The catch is that when the latter happens, investors will be knocked out of any future market exposure even if the risk asset rebounds in value. </font></p><p><font size="4">This was what happened among the early crop of structured funds, causing losses in terms of opportunity costs and sales charges, and unhappiness among investors. </font></p><p><font size="4">So, after earning a bad reputation, why is portfolio insurance rearing its head yet again?</font></p><p><font size="4">Says a source: 'There is a lot of demand from clients who say I'm conservative. Is there any way to protect my downside?'</font></p><p><font size="4">Most funds that aim to protect your capital will put the bulk of the assets in zero coupon bonds. The greater the capital to be protected, the more conservative the strategy has to be. With this fund, by progressively paying out your capital, the cushion needed for downside protection reduces every year. This suggests that your risk exposure could be maintained or raised, even in a down market - although, as the prospectus clearly outlines, this may not be so in every circumstance.</font></p><p><font size="4">In the Life Select fund, the risk exposure is to a basket of stocks in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, environmental and wealth management sectors.</font></p><p><font size="4">The fund is open-ended, which means investors can subscribe or redeem at any time at the prevailing net asset value (NAV). </font></p><p><font size="4">Even with the capital repayments, it is understood that the fund's NAV may not drop by an equal amount every year. This is because the basket of stocks the fund is exposed to could generate a capital gain. And the fund also aims to generate income through a derivative strategy of selling call options and buying puts, in what is called a 'collar'. The options strategy is expected to earn 8 to 9 per cent a year. These returns are re-invested into the fund in the first 10 years, and paid out as income subsequently.</font></p><p><font size="4">Still, there are a number of caveats, as always.</font></p><p><font size="4">The prospectus lists three scenarios which would influence the fund's returns pattern. The first is a scenario of strong growth and an exposure to the risk asset of almost 100 per cent. In this case, the NAV will not appreciate as much as the underlying strategy itself because of the capital repayments. At the end of 10 years, the NAV is projected at $1.25.</font></p><p><font size="4">In the second scenario of a steady market, the NAV at the end of the 10 years is just $0.75.</font></p><p><font size="4">The third scenario is one where the basket of stocks underperforms. The portfolio loses exposure to the risk asset and is fully allocated to the zero bond component. At the end of 10 years, the NAV is reduced to zero.</font></p><p><font size="4">Says a fund distributor: 'Investors like the 'buy/write' strategy. This fund brings some unique features. A disciplined capital reduction scheme lets clients take some money off the table. That is a benefit to clients who do not have the discipline of knowing when to get out.' Buy/write refers to the strategy of simultaneously selling a call option, which earns a premium, and buying a call which gives a floor to the downside.</font></p><p><font size="4">For a client with a long investment horizon - 10 years is long by any measure - a balanced portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash is likely to beat the Celsius strategy. Individuals, however, may not have the discipline to rebalance their portfolios regularly, and in this respect a financial adviser can help.</font></p><p><font size="4">Academics at the London Business School have found that strategies that attempt to protect investors' capital tend to under-perform a simple buy-and- hold strategy. They also found that a protected portfolio is sub-optimal. For a given return, the risk would be lower if the investor simply splits his assets between cash and equities. Likewise, for a given risk level, the investor would reap higher returns with a traditional mix of cash and equities.</font></p><p><font size="4">Interestingly, the study - the Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2007 - also has a portion on portfolio insurance (CPPI). As professors Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton explain it, the CPPI strategy buys equities as they rise and sell as they fall. </font></p><p><font size="4">The Life Select Income fund will levy a sales charge of up to 5 per cent, which is not included in the capital repayment. The annual management fee is up to 2.2 per cent. Investors are also subject to the credit risk of Barclays Bank plc which is the counterparty to the fund's underlying structure. </font></p><p></p></span> |
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