Ask the fund manager for brochuresand the performance record. If you use an independent financial adviser, ask if he or she knows anything about the fund.. Getting back to basics has paid off for Alliance & Leicester, the high street bank. The 37 products weighing down its shelves this time last year have been cut to 12. The focus on four key areas - mortgages, current accounts, savings and personal loans - means A&L can concentrate on more attractive deals, which in turn should encourage its customers to buy more financial products from the bank. A&L has a great dividend, yielding more than 5 per cent to new buyers.
Investors can be confident it will not be cut: a giant share buyback plan shows this is a company which is desperate to give its cash away.A&L's shares are not the cheapest in the banking sector, but there are not many which offer both its earnings growth potential and such a strong dividend Buy. Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce is not for the widowed, the orphaned or the otherwise faint of heart. Yet even after an extraordinary rally since March, these shares can keep going. There is scope for Rolls-Royce's cashflows to improve, because this decade is not likely to witness the vast investment in engine design required in the Nineties. The dividend looks safe and would give investors the confidence of a 6.4 per cent yield Buy.
Standard Chartered Growth in other regions is making up for problems in Hong Kong where Sars has hit economic growth, pushed up unemployment and increased credit card and mortgage defaults. Central costs are coming down across the bank and Standard Chartered's emerging markets focus makes it a good long-term play Hold. Xansa Xansa, which installs IT systems for businesses, is not likely to raise investors' smiles yet. There are no signs market conditions in the UK - which accounts for more than 90 per cent of revenues - are getting better. Alisatir Cox has wielded the axe since becoming chief executive nine months ago and seems to be taking right steps to revive Xansa's fortunes But it is only a hold.
