The travails of the BNP Paribas marriage remain fresh in Philippe Lespinard’s mind, leaving his firm wary of taking the plunge again, writes Yuri Bender.

Regaining the trust of investors is the key priority for the next 12 months, according to industry leaders surveyed in PWM’s

poll. They are also united on the healthy prospects for open

architecture. But the cynics have their say on the merits of guaranteed

products. Roxane McMeeken reports.

Expectations of worldwide rises in interest rates and the recovery of equities spells the end of capital value growth but will lead to an improvement in corporate bond yields, says Simon Hildrey.

Property investors must take account of the sectors within the asset class by spreading their bets.

Hedge fund strategies for 2004 should be chosen based on risk budget and faintness of heart.

In this section of PWM we test the performance and volatility of two investment strategies using model portfolios. Each month we look at two baskets of shares – one global and one European.