30 October 2007
Winterthur adds the Winterthur New Star International Property Fund and the Winterthur Schroder Global Equity Income Fund to its Tailored Selection range of funds, available to Winterthur bond and individual pension investors.
These two new funds complement Winterthur’s Tailored Selection, bringing the total number of funds in the range to 107.
Winterthur New Star International Property Fund:
- Adds an international diversification dimension to the benefits of commercial property
- Invests across the main sub-sectors of office, retail and industrial property
- Exposure to Continental Europe and Asia Pacific regions via the first UK retail bricks and mortar international commercial property fund
- Liquidity provided via 20% holding in shares, REITs and cash
- The fund has an annual management charge of 1.30% plus 25bps Total expense ratio.
Winterthur Schroder Global Equity Income Fund:
- Capitalises on the fact that nine out of ten of stocks yielding 3% or more are to be found outside the UK1
- Challenges the traditional view that companies either pay high dividends or grow their business – but not both
- Aims to provide lower volatility than the overall market
- Offers true investment freedom – unhindered by benchmarks, the fund manager has the flexibility to invest in her favoured stocks
- The fund has an annual management charge of 1.20% plus 25bps Total expense ratio.
Vince Rennie, Chief Investment Officer, Winterthur, said: “Given the current market volatility, advisers are increasingly becoming risk aware and looking for a wider selection of funds. The addition of these two new funds meets these needs in diversifying our Tailored Selection range to include international property and global equity income. The Winterthur New Star International Property Fund offers the prospect of good growth opportunities with reduced risk through the diversification across countries and regions. The Winterthur Schroder Global Equity Income Fund is clearly structured with a disciplined investment process. By its nature the Fund will have a value style tilt, which provides a complementary position within the global equities sector which contains more growth oriented funds.''
Roger Dossett, chief executive, property fund management, New Star Asset Management comments: “We are delighted to be working with Winterthur to offer the New Star International Property Fund. The addition of this fund to a highly-respected pensions and investment company is testament to the fund’s unique structure and the strong demand for this asset class.”
Sonja Schemmann, fund manager, Schroders added: “The Schroder Global Equity Income Fund meets the increasing demand for dividend and lower risk strategies through a disciplined investment process investing in high yield stocks. We look forward to further developing our relationship with Winterthur, and believe their pension expertise combined with our investment experience provides a great investment option.”
1 Source: Factset / Schroders. (Data as at 12/03/07)
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For further information:
Paul Riddell Winterthur Life, Press Office +44 (0)1256 798099
Becky Holmes Winterthur Life, Press Office +44 (0)1256 798310
Christine Wood FD +44 (0)20 7269 7253
Notes to Editors
About Winterthur Life UK Limited
Winterthur Life UK Limited is part of AXA Group, one of the largest financial institutions in the world.
Winterthur Life UK Limited is a provider of focused investment and retirement solutions and support services predominantly distributed through quality IFAs to their high net worth clients.
The company is recognised as having an innovative approach to financial products and its products feature simple, transparent charging with access to a wide range of carefully selected investment funds and fund managers via its Tailored Selection fund platform. Winterthur is also differentiated in the market through its focus on service excellence.
Winterthur Life UK Limited has a B+ financial strength rating from AKG, which denotes “very good financial strength”. As at June 30 2007, the company reported a rise in assets under management to £11.15 billion, up from 9.48 billion as at Q2 2006.
Winterthur Life UK Limited is authorrised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Any opinions expressed in this media communication are made as at the date of publication but are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not a guide to the future. The values of shares/units and the income from them can go down as well as up. Exchange rate fluctuations may cause the value of underlying investments to fall as well as rise. Yields are not guaranteed and may fall or rise.
www.winterthur-life.co.uk
AXA
AXA UK is a part of the AXA Group. AXA Group is a worldwide leader in Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacifi area. For full year 2006, IFRS revenues amounted to €79 billion and IFRS underlying earnings amounted to €4,010 million.
The AXA ordinary share is listed and trades under the symbol AXA on the Paris Stock Exchange. The AXA American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AXA.
Our previous company performance is not at a guide to how we may perform in the future.
