BT Investment Management has terminated its BT Global Return Fund after the fund manager failed to find a solution to the redemptions freeze it imposed in December last year. The fund was worth $871 million in February this year. The termination is effective today.

BT stated in a letter on its website that it explored a number of options to lift the suspension, but determined that it would be in the best interest of the fund's investors to wind up the fund.

"To lift the suspension and open the fund for redemptions would mean that more liquid assets would be used to satisfy redemptions, leaving continuing investors with an increased exposure to less liquid assets. There is a significant uncertainty as to when the current suspension of redemptions from the fund could be lifted to enable withdrawals to be paid."

The fund was delivering returns of more than 2 per cent before June last year, when the financial crisis caused its returns to plunge to a low of minus 10 per cent in October. The fund had net assets of $1.2 billion in June last year.