New funds available on Standard Life Bonds and Pensions

Standard Life has announced that a further 14 funds have been added to its Life and Pensions range.

All 14 of the new funds will be available on Standard Life’s Investment Bonds, and 10 will be available on its Pension products.

Highlights included in the new additions are the M&G Cautious Multi Asset Fund, the Insight Diversified Target fund and two CF Midas funds. Standard Life Investments Global REIT Fund is another exciting newcomer that will be available to Standard Life’s bond and pension customers.

Graham Dow, Head of Investment Development at Standard Life Assurance Ltd said, “These new funds have been chosen to complement our existing fund range, providing more investment choice across a diverse range of asset classes and risk profiles.”

Graham continued, “The M&G Cautious Multi Asset Fund is newly launched and is managed by Citywire-AAA rated David Jane. We are delighted to be able to offer this interesting new fund, which has a more diverse asset allocation model as it includes commercial property and leveraged loans issued by private equity firms. Standard Life will be the first life and pensions provider to link to this fund.”

The Insight Diversified Target Return Fund is managed by Dr Ana Cukic-Munro and Patrick Armstrong. Commenting on its inclusion, Graham said, “The fund managers’ emphasis on Asian property, equities, currencies and private equity will make this an interesting fund to watch over the longer term.”

Two other highlights are the funds from Midas Capital. Graham commented, “The Midas Balanced Growth Fund is managed by Simon Edwards, who is also Citywire-AAA rated. Simon’s approach to asset allocation is highly diversified and has resulted in a strong fund performance over the last three years. It’s a good fund for those who want to spread their money across a wider portfolio. The Midas Balanced Income Fund is managed by Citywire-AA rated Alan Borrows who came out top of the Cautious Managed sector in December 2006.”

Finally, the Standard Life Investments Global REIT Fund was launched in January 2007 in line with the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) legislation in the UK. The fund is managed by Andrew Jackson of Standard Life Investments, with Svitlana Gubriy as deputy manager. Andrew and Svitlana are the same portfolio management team behind the highly successful SL Select Property Fund. Mr Dow added, “Property continues to be a very popular asset class, so this new fund will provide even wider choice to all our clients. This particular fund takes a largely unconstrained approach to asset allocation, meaning that it invests in markets and property sectors where the best opportunities exist. Stock selection can therefore be as diverse as a Singaporean property development company to a German airport operation and development firm.”