S&P upgrades one, downgrades one
Research house Standard & Poors Fund Services (S&P) has downgraded a BlackRock fund to two stars and upgraded a Schroders fund to five in its style neutral peer group, published as part of its 2011 Australian Equities' Large Cap sector review.
S&P said the BlackRock Wholesale Australian Share Fund, which was downgraded to two stars, had struggled to meet its objectives since it was transformed to an insights based approach in October 2008.
"The downgrade at this review cycle has been driven by our reduced conviction in the manager's ability to identify value-adding investment insights, as well as implementation issues at the construction stage," the research house stated.
In upgrading the Schroders Wholesale Australian Equity Fund to five stars, S&P said it was due to the company's strong leadership structure and risk awareness.
"Schroders has one of the largest teams in the market, and we have a high regard for the quality and depth of its research," S&P stated.
As part of the peer group, the researcher has also affirmed ratings on 13 funds, including the five-star rating on the BT Wholesale Core Australian Share Fund.
S&P announced it would soon publish the sector review, along with its key findings.
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