5th Oct 2005 16:55
Hiscox PLC05 October 2005 PRESS RELEASE 5 October 2005 HISCOX TO LAUNCH A GLOBAL FINANCIALS FUND Hiscox Investment Management is to launch the Hiscox Global Financials Fundpooling the expertise of fund managers David Astor and Alec Foster. The newfund, scheduled to launch on 24 October (launch period 24 - 28 October), will bea focused portfolio, investing in the most attractive opportunities within thebanking and insurance industries worldwide. Robin Evans of Fox-Pitt, Kelton, theleading specialist investment bank in the financials sector, will provideresearch and asset allocation advice to the managers and will work together withHiscox in the initial marketing. The Hiscox Global Financials Fund will be managed with an absolute return bias.It is expected to be a concentrated portfolio initially comprising a core groupof 25-30 stocks. A satellite group of up to five stocks will be added on anopportunistic basis as shorter term trading ideas. The portfolio will holdequities, bonds, and cash as appropriate, with the flexibility to range frombeing fully invested to holding up to 50% in cash in the event of short termmarket difficulties. A neutral position would see the fund 80% invested. Thefund will distribute the underlying income of the portfolio which is estimatedat around 2.5% per annum (expenses will be deducted from capital). The new fundis structured as a sub-fund within the existing Hiscox OEIC alongside the HiscoxInsurance Portfolio Fund. Since 1st February 2005 Hiscox plc has funded a segregated portfolio with around£3 million employing the proposed strategy. It has returned around 10.3% overthe period to the end of September. Hiscox plc has indicated that it will invest£20 million in the new fund at launch. David Astor said: "The prospects for financials look very strong over the next12-18 months, with several factors suggesting that the financials sector couldoutperform the broader market. With interest rates peaking or indeed falling, ina number of major markets, financials will be expected to be leadingbeneficiaries." Alec Foster said: "The tragic events of Hurricane Katrina have dramaticallyimpacted the outlook for the insurance industry. The scale of the loss will taketime to evaluate and indeed may cause some reinsurance companies difficultiesbut the pricing environment will improve materially not just in the relatedareas but more generally across the property/casualty sector. Well managedinsurance companies with strong balance sheets will see significantopportunities." David Astor and Alec Foster will be supported by Nick Martin as investmentanalyst, together with Robin Evans of Fox-Pitt, Kelton who will advise on assetallocation. Ends All media enquiries: Hiscox Investment Management 020 7448 6000 Mainland PR 020 7072 2340Mark Stacpoole Neil Mainland Editors' notes:Hiscox Investment ManagementIn 1998, Hiscox Investment Management launched the Hiscox Insurance PortfolioFund, which is designed to take advantage of the special knowledge of theinsurance industry which the managers are able to bring to the portfolio. The£46 million fund is the only fund dedicated to investment in the globalinsurance industry available in Europe. 2 other sub-funds of the London-basedOEIC, the Hiscox UK Opportunities Fund and the Hiscox International Growth Fund,are managed for Hiscox and third party investors by external fund managers. In December 2002, Hiscox Investment Management acquired the management contractsof the financial funds managed by Eldon Capital, a subsidiary of Fox-Pitt,Kelton. These funds were renamed in November 2003 to the Hiscox Financial Funds.Two of the funds are sub-funds of Hiscox Financial Funds, a Dublin-based OEIC -Hiscox US Financial Fund and Hiscox European Financial Fund . The Hiscox FarEastern Financial Fund is a Dublin listed OEIC, registered in the CaymanIslands. These three funds currently total approximately £60 million. Hiscox Investment Management is responsible for overseeing the funds whichsupport the underwriting activity and the technical funds of Hiscox plc.Currently these amount to around £1.7 billion and are supervised by the GroupInvestment Director, Alec Foster. • Hiscox US Financial Fund ($) Launched 3 November 1994 Manager: David Astor • Hiscox Far Eastern Financial Fund ($) Launched 5 December 1996 Manager: David Astor • Hiscox European Financial Fund (•) Launched 11 March 1993 Manager: David Astor • Hiscox Insurance Portfolio Fund (£) Launched 19 October 1998 Manager: Alec Foster Hiscox plcHiscox plc is a leading specialist insurance group listed on the London StockExchange and is currently capitalised at around £600 million. With origins inthe Lloyds market going back 100 years it is now a diversified provider ofinsurance services to the international market place. It is well known for theprovision of retail and personal lines including high-value household insurancethrough its Hiscox Insurance Company subsidiary. It provides cover for a rangeof international risks through the London insurance market at Lloyds whereSyndicate 33 has traded successfully for many years. Hiscox Global Financials Fund Team David Astor - Fund ManagerDavid has worked in the financial services industry since 1982. He started hiscareer in the Capital Markets Division of Kleinwort Benson Limited. JoinedFox-Pitt, Kelton Limited in 1993 at the inception of its investment managementsubsidiary, Eldon Capital Management. He moved to Hiscox Investment Managementin 2002 when they acquired Eldon's fund management business and he manages thethree financial funds. Alec Foster - Fund ManagerAlec has worked in the insurance business since 1967, firstly as an insurancebroker in the London market before he joined Hiscox in 1976. He is the GroupInvestment Officer for Hiscox plc and is also the fund manager of the HiscoxInsurance Portfolio Fund. Alec has over 37 years experience of the insurancemarket and 28 years of managing investments at Hiscox. Nick Martin - AnalystNick is a qualified chartered accountant and obtained a first class honoursdegree in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics at the London School ofEconomics. Prior to joining Hiscox he spent three years at the charteredaccountants, Mazars Neville Russell, specialising in audit and consultancy workfor insurance companies, insurance brokers and Lloyd's syndicates. He analysesinsurance stocks as well as managing a UK smaller companies fund for Hiscox plc. Robin Evans - Fox-Pitt, KeltonRobin began his career with Phoenix Assurance Group in 1980 and subsequentlymoved to BZW Investment Management. In 1991, he joined Flemings and became themanager of a number of their international funds, including Save & Prosper'sFinancial Securities Fund and Growth Fund and, in 1998, was awarded the BusinessWeek Fund Manager of the year award for diversified funds. He joined Eldon in1998 and was the CIO from 1999 until 2002. After the successful transfer of theFPK funds to Hiscox, he became Global Strategist for FPK, and is responsible forcoordinating the relationship with Hiscox. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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