Old dogs, new tricks

As investment styles fell from favour during the credit crunch, and certain asset classes were unloved as a result of Europe's debt crisis, some veteran asset managers have had to change their spots.

 To mix a metaphor, investors looking to some reinvented managers might have wondered if you can truly teach an old dog new tricks. The limited success of UCITS hedge funds suggests some investor scepticism that even the most veteran hedge managers can transfer skills learned in offshore vehicles to liquid, gate-free ones onshore. In regard to asset classes, the managers that have had to learn new tricks, or at least apply existing skills to new asset classes, have been in traditional high grade fixed income. Investors seem largely to encourage this expansion. Take PIMCO, for examp...