Ascentric Wrap offers Castleton Growth Fund to IFAs
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Ascentric, the whole of market Wrap Platform now offers IFAs the opportunity to select the Castleton Growth Fund from Barmac Asset Management Limited, from amongst its 150 fund managers and 2,000 funds, The Castleton Growth Fund is one of only 4% of all OEICs to make a positive return in the first quarter 2008.
Michael Fordham, Business Development Director said:
"We are pleased to include Barmac Asset Management amongst the impressive and continually growing list of Fund Managers we have on the Ascentric Platform. We now have approximately 2,000 funds available from around 150 fund managers. Barmac are also available as discretionary managers on the platform, taking the choice of discretionary managers to five with more due to be added shortly."
Andrew Bartles, director of Barmac Asset Management, had this to say:
"The Castleton Growth Fund is a true actively managed fund. Many funds, whilst fully invested in the market are, in fact, passively managed and rely on being bench marked to a particular index. No problem when there is a market upturn, but when the market goes through tough conditions, as they have done in recent months, investors take a hit no matter how well the fund is managed. At Barmac we do not like to give our investors surprises and believe in a capital preservation strategy in volatile times.
"Using our unique brand of technical analysis and investment management experience, we can analyse whether markets are moving in a positive or negative direction and either increase our equity exposure or, as in this present turbulent environment, move to cash as a defensive mechanism. We believe that the Castleton Growth Fund continues to offer protection during the current market uncertainty, but can move quickly to take advantage of a market rally when it happens".
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
Ascentric
Michael Fordham
Business Development Director
E-mail: michael.fordham@ascentric.co.uk
Tel: 0207 553 9170
Mobile: 07718538541
Notes to Editors:
About Ascentric
Ascentric and Fundsdirect are the trading names of Investment Funds Direct Limited.
Investment Funds Direct Limited was founded in 1982, and Fundsdirect launched as the UK's first online fund supermarket in December 1999. Since that time, the company has built on their reputation as a leading UK fund supermarket to provide Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) with a Wrap service under the brand name of Ascentric.
Ascentric is a whole of market Wrap service, available exclusively to IFAs and offers a fully integrated online investment management and dealing platform. It also enables IFAs to transfer their clients' assets onto a single platform to provide them with the ability to manage their client's financial needs in just one place. This is obviously a considerable enhancement to the existing, time-consuming practice of IFAs introducing their clients to a number of different product providers.
In October 2007, a majority holding of Investment Funds Direct Group Limited was acquired by Royal London Group.
For further information about Ascentric and Fundsdirect, please visit either www.ascentric.co.uk or www.fundsdirect.co.uk
Royal London Group is a specialist financial service provider. Its businesses focus on those sectors of the market which value premium propositions, operating through a number of brands:
- Scottish Life – UK pensions market
- Bright Grey – UK protection market
- Scottish Life International – offshore investment markets
- Scottish Provident International – offshore investment markets
- RLAM – fund management
- RLAS – life and pensions administration
- Fundsdirect / Ascentric – funds supermarket; Wrap Platform
Royal London is one of the stronger life and pension companies in the UK, and has a strong track record for with-profits performance.
Royal London is the largest mutual life and pensions company in the UK with Group funds under management of £32.6 billion. Group businesses serve around three million customers and employ 2,630 people (figures quoted are as at 31 March 2008).