Europe’s distributors are denying customers access to the full range of cross-border funds as it is more economical to sell products manufactured internally.
When a customer enters a bank branch in Europe, how confident can they be of accessing the best funds available?
Deutsche Bank’s Private & Business Clients division believes customers looking for performance can find what they need. Their due diligence team narrowed down the funds universe to eight strategic partners. There are also less high-profile agreements with a plethora of providers. Now Deutsche’s provision of external funds is being rolled out through Spain, Italy and Belgium.

Fidelity gains access to 7.5m new customers in a concentrated market.

New boss gets go-ahead to favour Ely managers over Dexia.

Insinger issues a word of caution to equity investors
Amsterdam-based private bank Insinger de Beaufort has gone against the grain with a cautious note to European equity investors. “The consensus view is built around the fact that interest rates are likely to rise in the second half of 2004. But the expectation of rate rises will have more effect on equities than the actual increase,” said Dave Williams, fund manager at Insinger. Despite this, Insinger prefers European to US markets. Oil services and equipment stocks are favoured. Insinger uses funds from Odey Asset Management, JO Hambro Capital Management and Thames River Capital.

UBS announced last month its purchase of UK private client investment manager Laing & Cruickshank Investment Management (L&C), marking the Swiss bank’s most significant expansion in Europe to date. The deal was UBS’s third major wealth management acquisition in the past nine months. It will also bring the total amount of client assets bought by the Swiss bank in Europe to E9.5bn since May last year. Another Ł5bn (e7.5bn) will be added once the buyout of Scott Goodman Harris (SGH), UK adviser to high net worth individuals, is completed later this year.

Fund investment, particularly in equity funds, is back – or is it? There’s
more than meets the eye to European developments, as a comparative analysis with the American situation shows. Rodney Williams reports.

Its products are best-sellers at Deutsche Bank branches despite the
friction of competition from outsiders, but DWS remains keen to expand its European distribution network. Yuri Bender writes about the latest ambitions of the German funds powerhouse.