Fund Times: 20 - 24 April
First State launches Global Emerging Markets Sustainability fund; Fidelity to liquidate Multi-Manager Special Situations and Equity Income funds; Artemis to launch Strategic Assets fund for Littlewood; Aviva loses Roberts to Gartmore and appoints Wauton as head of credit; New Star Investment Trust may be transferred to Duffield’s new venture; Morningstar announces 2009 UK fund award winners; Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued this week.
First State launches Global Emerging Markets Sustainability fund
First State has added to its emerging markets fund line-up this week through the launch of First State Global Emerging Markets Sustainability fund. The fund will be available to retail and institutional investors in the UK and Europe and will be managed by David Gait. The fund aims to invest in companies with business models which can benefit from opportunities in areas such as renewable and cleaner energy, energy efficiency and environmentally-aware consumer products and services, amongst others. Gait, who has been with First State since 1997, will continue to run First State Asia Pacific Sustainability with industry veteran and head of desk Angus Tulloch, who we hold in high regard.
Fidelity to liquidate Multi-Manager Special Situations and Equity Income funds
Fidelity International is winding up its Multi-Manager Special Situations and Multi-Manager Equity Income funds. This follows a wave of liquidations in the fund industry across the UK and Europe as outflows have shrunk asset sizes and thus made them unviable. The firm is offering investors in the MM Special Situations fund the option to switch to its flagship fund Fidelity Special Situations, which is currently run by Sanjeev Shah, or alternatively any other Fidelity fund. We think highly of Shah and his fund has remained relatively resilient in the current market environment compared with its average Morningstar category rival. This also applies to shareholders in MM Equity Income who have the option of transferring assets to Michael Clark’s Fidelity Income Plus fund, which he took over in July last year from John Stavis in July last year. This marked Clark’s first stint in portfolio management as he had been an analyst with Fidelity since 2002. You can read our opinion of the fund here.
Artemis to launch Strategic Assets fund for Littlewood
Artemis plans to launch a Strategic Assets fund next month for William Littlewood, subject to FSA approval. The UCITS III fund will invest in equities, bonds, currencies and commodities and can hold as much as 50% in cash. Littlewood’s last stint in the retail world was at Jupiter Income and during his nine year tenure he amassed a staggering record. The fund returned 25% per year annualised, which dwarfs the 15% return for its average peer in the UK Large-Cap Value Equity category, and also managed to keep volatility in line with peers’. Artemis Strategic Assets is his latest venture after the closure of his hedge fund at the house last year.
Aviva loses Roberts to Gartmore and appoints Wauton as head of credit
Dan Roberts will be leaving Aviva Investors for Gartmore and will be replaced by Chris Murphy on his Aviva Investors UK Income Opportunities fund. Roberts has run this fund since August 2005 and delivered competitive returns. Although in absolute terms the fund shed 2.1% per year annualised over his tenure, this represents an outperformance of 4 percentage points over his average Morningstar category peer. He will take over the UK Equity Income fund at Gartmore from its current manager Chris Burvill, who will now focus entirely on Gartmore Cautious Managed.
Elsewhere at Aviva Mark Wauton was appointed Head of Credit. In this new role, Wauton will take responsibility for the team’s investment grade and high yield activities. Wauton came from ABN Amro, where he was head of strategic credit trading.
New Star Investment Trust may be transferred to Duffield’s new venture
Henderson expects to hand over the £60million New Star Investment Trust to Duffield’s newly established asset management firm, Hyde Park Asset Management. Duffield owns some 60% of the shares so the move makes sense, although the trust’s manager Mark Harris has moved over to Henderson as part of its New Star acquisition.
Morningstar announces 2009 UK fund award winners
Morningstar has this week announced the fund and fund group winners of its 2009 UK Fund Awards. In what remains a particularly challenging market for investors, the Morningstar Fund Awards spotlight those funds and fund groups that delivered the greatest outperformance, on a risk-adjusted basis, in 2008 and over the longer term. They also highlight those funds and fund groups that have proven most adept in preserving fund value in a year that will be remembered as a rapidly falling market. Morningstar’s director of fund research for the UK, Jackie Beard, had this to say: “There’s no hiding that this year’s awards will be more a recognition of resilience than outright performance. But our analysis also acknowledges those funds and fund groups that have all the right pillars in place for a strong, risk-adjusted performance going forward. Our awards methodology, therefore, covers both quantitative and qualitative measures and aims to provide a rounded view of some of the more popular funds around.” You can read more about the awards methodology and list of winners here and here.
Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued this week
Morningstar issued new qualitative ratings and reports on a number of funds available to UK investors this week, including Schroder ISF US Smaller Companies, Investec GSF Global Energy, Investec GSF Global Equity, and many more. Click here to see the full list.
