ASSIRT puts ING on hold
Assirt Researchhas placedING Investment Management’ssmall caps product on hold following the departure last week of ING’s two key small cap specialists.
According to a statement by Assirt, the departure of Brian Eley and Ben Griffiths from the ING small caps team places ING in a vulnerable position.
“With the departure of Eley and Griffiths, we believe that ING now has a lack of well-qualified small cap specialists. Consequently, Assirt has placed ING’s small caps product on hold pending a complete review.”
The statement says while Assirt had recently reviewed ING’s small caps capabilities as strong, it recognises that one of the main reasons for this was the calibre of its key staff.
Both Eley and Griffiths are to joinBT Funds Management’sAustralian equities team in the new year.
Meanwhile, ING has promoted Michael Courtney from the position of industrial analyst to a portfolio manager position in the small caps team.
ING’s head of Australian equities and chairman of the group’s small cap committee, John Morgan, will oversee both the small cap investment process and the recruitment of one other senior investment professional to join the team.
Assirt says all other ING Australian equities product ratings remain unchanged, despite its considerable exposure to small caps stocks across all portfolios.
It says in the past ING has demonstrated a key strength in monitoring investment processes and performance following staff departures.
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