Lonsec downgrades Rothschild funds
Lonsechas downgraded two of Rothschild Australia Asset Management’s funds from recommended to approved status, saying that Westpac’s purchase of the fund manager introduced a degree of uncertainty over the operation of these funds going forward.
Both the Rothschild Australian Fixed Interest Fund and the Rothschild Conservative Option Fund were relegated to an approved rating in Lonsec’s May sector based review of managed funds.
While Westpac’s purchase of Rothschild was the only reason attributed to the downgrade of the Australian Fixed Interest Fund, the disappointing risk adjusted performance of the Rothschild Conservative Option also affected this fund’s recommendation, Lonsec says.
Other funds downgraded include the Zurich Managed Investment Australian Fixed Interest Fund, which was also downgraded from recommended to approved status. The downgrade was based on the underperformance of the fund, as well as some short-term uncertainty over the implementation and integration of the new team structure at Deutsche, which is contracted to manage money on behalf of Zurich.
Lonsec also gave BT’s Conservative Outlook Fund a hold status following the resignation of its head of Australian Fixed Interest, Steve Miller, while the BT Pacific Basin Fund was upgraded from approved to recommended.
According to Lonsec, the fund continues to be the most attractive Asia ex-Japan option and has performed well compared to its peers.
Both Hedge Funds of Australia’s (HFA) Australian Shares Long Short Fund and its Strategic Investments Funds are now on hold, with the change in the former funds status due to a shift in the underlying investment process of the fund.
HFA is currently conducting a review of its Strategic Investments Fund and is hoping to add some additional investment specialists to manage the fund.
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