Mutual launches funds to brand name in US

NEW YORK – Old Mutual Plc, South Africa’s biggest insurer, said on Wednesday it has launched its first US mutual funds under the firm’s name, as part of an effort to brand the company in the United States.

Old Mutual hopes to repeat the successful entry into the US marketplace by a number of large European financial service companies, such as Axa, ING Groep, and UBS AG, which had lacked brand recognition in the United States, the company said. “This is really the first entry of the Old Mutual name into the retail space in America,” said David Bullock, chief executive of Denver-based Old Mutual Capital Inc., which was created to serve as the adviser to the new funds.The Old Mutual Advisor Funds offers investors four allocation mixes with varying degrees of risk: conservative, balanced, moderate growth or growth, the company said.Unlike other asset allocation funds, each Old Mutual fund will incorporate multiple investment strategies from up to 12 company-owned sub-advisory firms in the Old Mutual Asset Management group, the company said.Similar funds are made up of a percentage of a company’s existing funds, which could cause poor performance because of a company’s weak, or non-existent, offering in an asset class.Old Mutual has more than US$220 billion under management worldwide, with more than US$160 billion of that managed by Old Mutual Asset Management, the company’s US asset management arm.But 85 per cent of the US assets are institutionally owned, and less than 15 per cent is at the retail level.The Old Mutual Advisor Funds will be sold through broker-dealers, and the company has hired 22 experienced wholesalers to sell the funds.Denver was chosen as its base because it is an industry hub in the western United States.Old Mutual owns Liberty Ridge Capital, which manages the PBHG Funds, with about US$4,1 billion under management.Liberty Ridge changed its name from Pilgrim Baxter & Associates last week.Old Mutual also owns the popular Clipper Fund and the Arcadian Emerging Markets Fund.-Nampa-Reuters”This is really the first entry of the Old Mutual name into the retail space in America,” said David Bullock, chief executive of Denver-based Old Mutual Capital Inc., which was created to serve as the adviser to the new funds.The Old Mutual Advisor Funds offers investors four allocation mixes with varying degrees of risk: conservative, balanced, moderate growth or growth, the company said.Unlike other asset allocation funds, each Old Mutual fund will incorporate multiple investment strategies from up to 12 company-owned sub-advisory firms in the Old Mutual Asset Management group, the company said.Similar funds are made up of a percentage of a company’s existing funds, which could cause poor performance because of a company’s weak, or non-existent, offering in an asset class.Old Mutual has more than US$220 billion under management worldwide, with more than US$160 billion of that managed by Old Mutual Asset Management, the company’s US asset management arm.But 85 per cent of the US assets are institutionally owned, and less than 15 per cent is at the retail level.The Old Mutual Advisor Funds will be sold through broker-dealers, and the company has hired 22 experienced wholesalers to sell the funds.Denver was chosen as its base because it is an industry hub in the western United States.Old Mutual owns Liberty Ridge Capital, which manages the PBHG Funds, with about US$4,1 billion under management.Liberty Ridge changed its name from Pilgrim Baxter & Associates last week.Old Mutual also owns the popular Clipper Fund and the Arcadian Emerging Markets Fund.-Nampa-Reuters