Buyside firms are placing more emphasis on sustainability issues in the research and advisory services they receive from brokers, according to the results of the Thomson Reuters Extel and UKSIF 2010 Socially Responsible Investing & Sustainability Survey.
Although fund managers are still operating in a world of uncertainty, those covering the Mena (Middle East, North Africa) region have turned positive on financial equities.
European fund sales recovered in July, according to latest statistics from Lipper Fund Market Information (Lipper FMI), reaching €22bn. Year to date, European fund sales now stand at €168bn.
It may have a stomach-churning roller-coaster performance during the crisis behind it, but steely-nerved emerging-markets pundits are again talking up Russia, which they say is no longer primarily a commodities story.
Investors looking to tap into returns through the environmental sector now have access to four thematic plays in one fund - the Pictet-Environmental Megatrend Selection.
As summer limps to a rainy close, here in northern climes at any rate, what does the rest of the year hold for the markets? The tone of much of the recent commentary is cautionary.
