Merrill Lynch Investment Managers is spinning out six new sector funds, capitalizing on the growing craze for thematic rather than geography-based investing. Asia is not a prominent part of this roll out, however only in Hong Kong will the new funds be available, as opposed to a long list of European jurisdictions. The funds will be managed out of London and Princeton, New Jersey.
Merrill Lynch as a group is promoting sector investment in a big way. Earlier this year, the firm helped FTSE develop a suite of global sector indices, and was the first broker to offer institutional and retail trading instruments based on them. The firm is also working to introduce exchange-traded...