IOOF upgraded to four stars
IOOF Investment Managementhas been upgraded from a three to a four star rating following a review of its cash, fixed interest and international equity funds byMorningstar.
IOOF’s upgrade now enables the investment manager to carry the label ‘very good quality’ fund manager, a step up from the ‘good quality’ tag Morningstar handed down for the group in July this year.
In Morningstar’s view, IOOF’s commitment to the areas of cash and fixed interest, which represents roughly half of the IOOF group’s funds under management, strongly contributed to the upgrade.
The long serving members of IOOF’s fixed interest team also held the group in good stead with Morningstar, with IOOF’s head of fixed interest Glenn Feben having been with the manager for more than 14 years. Feben is also supported by an experienced team of Frank Uhlenbruch, Stephen Chivers, and Michael Swan, who average 18 years industry experience.
The group’s international equities has also been praised by Morningstar, with the ratings agency stating that through the group’s subsidiary, Perennial Investment Partners, IOOF has been able to adopt a disciplined active approach to investing. Perennial has also helped boost the number of staff within IOOF’s international equities division.
IOOF now joins fellow four star rated groups AMP, ING, JBWere, Merrill Lynch, MLC, Rothschild and Zurich.
Recommended for you
With the final tally for FY25 now confirmed, how many advisers left during the financial year and how does it compare to the previous year?
HUB24 has appointed Matt Willis from Vanguard as an executive general manager of platform growth to strengthen the platform’s relationships with industry stakeholders.
Investment manager Drummond Capital Partners has announced a raft of adviser-focused updates, including a practice growth division, relaunched manager research capabilities, and a passive model portfolio suite.
When it comes to M&A activity, the share of financial buyers such as private equity firms in Australia fell from 67 per cent to 12 per cent in the last financial year.