The sectors seeing increased 1 Crown ratings
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global stockmarkets has led to over a quarter of global equity funds receiving 1 Crown ratings.
In the latest edition of the FE fundinfo Crown Fund Ratings, the worst-affected sector was the global equity sector, within the Australian Core Strategies universe, which saw 70 funds receive the lowest rating.
This represented 35% of the global equity sector and 21% of total funds which received a 1 Crown rating.
The figure was up from 58 funds in the September edition of the awards, when it represented 22% of the sector, and included 39 funds which had either been downgraded or it was their first rating.
Magellan High Conviction, Janus Henderson Intech Global All Country Managed Volatility ex-Australia and Montgomery Global saw the biggest downgrades, from 4 Crowns to just 1 Crown, and Packer and Co Investigator Trust was downgraded from 3 Crowns.
Overall, there were 325 funds which received a 1 Crown rating and other sectors with a high volume of 1 Crown funds included 36 funds in the mixed asset-moderate, 19 funds in the Australian listed property sector, and 23 funds in diversified credit. No funds were downgraded from 5 Crowns to 1 Crown.
The Australian listed property sector saw 70% of its funds awarded 1 Crown as the pandemic meant offices were left empty and tenants struggled to pay rent which meant landlords saw reduced incomes.
Freehold AREITs and Listed Infrastructure, Zurich Money Maker Series Property and APN Property For Income 2 were all downgraded from 2 Crowns but the other funds retained an existing 1 Crown rating.
For the mixed asset-moderate sector, the 36 funds represented 55% of the sector but the figure was unchanged from the previous edition of the awards. Only three of the 36 funds were downgraded; IPAC Pathways 30, Morningstar Moderate and Optimix Wholesale Conservative Trust which were all downgraded from 2 Crowns.
In the diversified credit space, the figure was unchanged from the previous edition with all 23 funds retaining their ranking but there were three Australian bond funds which were downgraded from 2 Crowns to 1 Crowns; Altius Bond, AXA Managed Investment Plan Fixed Interest Portfolio and GAM FCM ILS Yield. However, the 10 total 1 Crown-rated funds represented only 8.5% of the sector.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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