BarclaysGlobal Inv-estors (BGI)andPerpetual Investmentshave both been issued with glowing report cards by two separate research houses.
In research reports issued last week,Assirtdescribed BGI as one of its “highest overall” rated managers, whileMorningstarhas lauded Perpetual’s Australian equities funds management capabilities.
Assirt’s praise for BGI was built on the performance of the fund manager’s Australian Share, Australian Equity Index, International Equity Index and Property Securities Index funds — all of which were awarded the research house’s top five star rating.
BGI’s entire range of diversified funds, including its Diversified Growth and Diversified Stable funds, as well as its International Share, Australian Fixed Interest Index and International Fixed Interest Index funds, were all awarded a very credible four stars by Assirt.
The research house says BGI’s investment approach was not likely to produce significant one-off outperformance, but “small increments of value-add over the longer term”.
“Barclays Global Inv-estors is one of the highest overall Assirt rated managers. This stems from the fact the manager has been able to leverage some of the best human insight into a systematic research and investment process,” Assirt senior investment analyst Rene Pyszko says.
“Performance has been sound across all asset classes, particularly on a risk adjusted basis, providing investors with a high degree of certainty and value for money.”
Meanwhile, Perpetual has been awarded Morningstar’s highest Australian equities sector strength rating of five.
The rating, which puts Perpetual in the top 10 per cent of managers in the sector, comes despite the departure of the group’s high profile portfolio manager, Peter Morgan, late last year.
Morgan, who left Perpetual to set up his own boutique funds management group, was replaced by John Sevior.
“The team will no doubt miss the highly experienced and valuable insights of Morgan, although Sevior’s appointment should ensure continuity of investment process,” Morningstar says.
“Achievement of investment objectives has been very rewarding for investors to date. With the process well-established, there is no reason to suggest competitive performance cannot be maintained going forward.”
However, Morningstar says Perpetual may be hampered in the future by the burgeoning pool of money being managed by its investment team.
Perpetual now manages approximately $11 billion in Australian equities.
