bonds

CAMPAIGNERS WILL gear up for a battle for government compensation for 85,000 people who lost pension benefits when their occupational schemes were wound up, reports The Financial Times .

At least seven out of ten consumers may not know the difference between bonds and equities even when they have made investments, suggests research.

An increase in the level of government inflation-linked bonds may not be enough to satisfy demand by pension funds, claims Watson Wyatt.

Fears of a possible end to the current strong growth in equity returns are being driven by "false signals" as a continued bullish nature towards global market should be expected in 2006, suggest Standard Life Investments strategists.

The FTSE 100 Index has risen 19.7 points, or 0.4%, to 5642.5 so far this morning led by commodities companies BP, BHP Billiton and Anglo American as oil trades near $60 a barrel and gold prices increase.

With-profits funds have suffered extremely bad press since the stockmarket fell in March 2001 and consumers woke up to the fact the all-important ‘bonuses' they thought were guaranteed were actually just "on loan" while the good times rolled.

Consumer interest in the investment market gained a little more ground in May but the bulk of those retail sales were placed in bonds, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Management Association.

A ‘no' vote in France and the Netherlands on the European Constitution, along with Britain's shelving of a referendum, is likely to see European bond spreads widen in the medium term and weaken the euro on the back of political instability, say fund houses....

Fidelity FundsNetwork is launching a ten-week re-registration campaign offering cash incentives to persuade investment advisers to consolidate clients' legacy investments onto its platform.

Around £40bn of pension fund assets was shifted from equities to bonds between 2003 and 2004, losing a potential £6bn in returns, even though listed stocks offered the best investment returns, says the IMA's annual survey.