Julius Baer is extremely bullish on American equities, with 60% of its equity funds parked there.
Unilever fired Putnam in October and placed the £275 million ($460 million) it had designated for American equities with Barclays.
Most people invest around 60% of their retirement savings in equities, with the rest invested in bonds.
"Equities with high dividends were a fantastic trade earlier in the year, but they're becoming a scary trade," he remarked.
In other words, investors get paid more to hold equities (with all their growth prospects) than stodgy government bonds.
Parly's portfolio is heavily weighted to equities, with investments mainly in energy, commodities, health care and biotechnology.
For example, he writes that 55-year-olds should have 85percentt of their retirement money in equities, with 10percentt in bonds and 5percentt in cash.
However [there is] historical evidence that a fall in oil price is a positive for equities, with a clear acceleration in performance after six months.
"Over all, it's a positive deal for BHP shareholders long-term," said Marcus Fanning, director of Australian equities with AMP Henderson Global Investors, a fund management company.
Credit Suisse First Boston will simplify its stock-rating system and compare equities with specific industries instead of with the broad market.
While the rival Paris-dominated Euronext market will trade stocks valued at some $2.2 trillion, the iX will group equities with a combined value of $4.29 trillion.
