One critic described the new scheme as breathtakingly irresponsible

One critic described the new scheme as “breathtakingly irresponsible”. The row is over the Treasury’s Cat-marking scheme (standing for fair charges, easy access and fair terms), launched last week. A unit or investment trust will win a government seal of approval only if it makes an annual charge of 1 per cent or less.
No more than a handful of actively managed unit and investment trust funds are cheap enough to make the grade. The total cost to the fund management industry in lost profits could add up to many millions of pounds if investors shun funds without official backing.This threat comes as fund management industry profits are collapsing along with stock markets around the world.At the Cat-mark launch, Patricia Hewitt, economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “What we have set is a standard some providers won’t be able to meet.

“We’re always looking at our business and looking at ways to keep costs low and competitive,” Mr FitzGerald said.The comments elaborate on those made on 7 August when Unilever said Asia’s economic problems will hamper earnings growth after a recession in Indonesia and other nations contributed to stagnant second-quarter profit.Company officials declined to comment on the outlook for the third-quarter results. “We will not rush to spend that money,” Mr Tabaksblat said.Company officials also said no decision has been made on a successor for Mr Tabaksblat, who relinquishes his position about the time of Unilever’s annual shareholder meeting in May.On 8 September, Antony Burgmans, currently business group president for ice-cream and frozen food in Europe, was named to be vice chairman, effective from 1 October.. The company said it experienced a “slowdown in consumption”, with Indonesia and Thailand affected the worst.About 46 per cent of sales in 1997 came from Europe and 21 per cent from North America.Unilever, cash-rich following the sale of its speciality chemicals business for $8bn, is considering possible acquisitions in food, home and personal care markets, the executives said.The company declined to comment on specific companies. In the first half, a 19 per cent surge in sales in the Asia-Pacific region came mainly from price increases in Southeast Asia.

“They remain attractive markets.”With some of those markets facing tougher economic problems, however, Unilever plans to adjust its marketing strategy to emphasise cheaper products that could appeal to lower-income consumers. The company expects to invest less in emerging markets for the time being because of the markets’ weakness.”They’re not growing nearly as fast as they were and surely the capital needs will be smaller than they were in the past,” Mr Tabaksblat said.The company said it is not planning any major restructuring to cut its workforce of 270,000 people in 88 countries Still, some cutbacks are possible. “We’re changing our policies and going more for the low-income group of the population, which sadly is larger than it was before,” said Mr Tabaksblat.Unilever, with $49bn (pounds 30bn) in sales last year, has dual headquarters in London and Rotterdam and is operated by two holding companies, Unilever Plc and Unilever NV, which have the same board of directors. A documentary series revealed the lows of Anglo-German relations at Rover. And – despite massive investment in men and machines by BMW – Rover, the UK’s largest exporter of manufactured goods, has struggled to sell cars and make money. The goal of breaking even by 2000, which failed to impress British journalists two years ago, is unlikely to be achieved. Just when BMW will see an adequate return on its investment is unclear.
This has not endeared Rover to the German press, which has dwelt on the contrast to BMW, frequently airing internal criticism of Rover and rumours about BMW’s longer-term commitment.

After all, BMW’s shares have suffered badly from Rover’s performance.Hasselkus has needed and received strong public support from Bernd Pischetsrieder, BMW chairman. At last year’s Frankfurt motor show they stood smiling side by side as the design of the new Mini was unveiled. Although intended to deflect criticism, the gesture emphasised the fact that Rover has been slow to produce new cars in the BMW era. Speaking on the Rover stand at Frankfurt, Hasselkus underlined how much had been done and how much still needed to be done.The mere existence of a well-designed Rover stand at Frankfurt was both an innovation and a tribute to the immense marketing effort BMW has put behind the brand overseas.