Skandia reveals selection for Signature range

IFAs will be able to access institutional fund managers, including Bill Priest of Epoch Investment Partners, via Skandia Investment Group’s (SIG) new Signature fund range.

Skandia has launched 20 single manager funds available via its Skandia Investment Solutions platform, including the Skandia US Large Cap Value fund headed by Priest.

Priest, founder and chief executive of Epoch Investment Partners and former chairman and chief executive of Credit Suisse Asset Management in the Americas, is running the US Large Cap Value fund alongside colleague and Epoch co-founder David Pearl.

The institutional version of the fund returned 11.3% in the three years to end of May, compared with the Russell 1000 index return of 4.7%.

Skandia has hired international fixed interest boutique Stone Harbor, in charge of $23 billion of institutional money across the globe, to run its Emerging Market Debt fund.

Stone Harbor’s institutional version of the fund returned 30.6% in the past 12 months while the JPMorgan Emerging Market Bond Index returned 29.3%.

Japanese fund manager Akira Yoshimi of Funnex Asset Management is running the Skandia Japanese Equity fund. He outperformed the Japan Topix index after returning 28% for investors in the past year on the institutional version of the fund, ahead of the Topix return of 26%.

Graham Bentley (pictured), head of investment marketing at Skandia, said: ‘We have identified some of the biggest names in fund management from around the world to come and be a part of our investment proposition here in the UK.’

Other managers also running funds include Louis Chabrier and Robert L Evans of Wellington Management Company, in charge of the Skandia Investment Grade Corporate Bond and Global Bond funds respectively.

The group is also offering its own Property fund among the range, run by ING's Nigel Pickup.

A number of funds will be headed up by well known fund managers including Newton's Tineke Frikkee, running the Skandia UK Income Plus fund, and Alastair Mundy of Investec who will manage the Skandia UK Select fund.