Morgan Stanley fund 'on hold'
Ratings house Standard & Poor’s has placed the Morgan Stanley Global Value Equity Fund ‘on hold’ because of what it describes as “significant changes” to the fund’s investment team and strategy.
Commenting on the move, S&P Fund Services analyst Tara Bell said the action was due to the uncertainty of the immediate effect of the changes, made after an internal review of the product offering.
S&P said management of the assets of the fund had been transferred to a Morgan Stanley in-house global equities team, under joint heads Maggie Taylor and Nathalie Degans, from the team formerly headed by Colin McQueen.
“There will be several key differences in the new strategy compared to the approach taken by McQueen’s team, such as the tempering of strong macro-economic and thematic tilts in the portfolio,” she said.
“In addition, high dividend stocks will be sought as preferred investments, which may have a marked impact on portfolio construction.”
“Given the extent of the changes to the fund, S&P considers it prudent to observe how the new team and process progresses over coming months before revisiting the rating,” Bell said.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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