Strategic dumps Sagitta from listed property lineup
Mastertrust providerStrategic Investments Australiahas droppedSagitta Rothschildfrom its listed property trust line-up, following the recent departures of a number of key personnel from its LPT team.
BT/Sagitta listed property director Carlos Cocaro left at the end of February, followed by property analyst Damien Barrack, prompting Strategic to review the mandate.
Strategic chief executive Chris Lumby says: “Carlos was the key person driving the team, so his departure signalled concerns to us.”
The $16 million active mandate has now been split between two new funds, theCredit SuisseProperty Fund and theSG HiscockProfessional Investor Listed Property Securities Fund.
Strategic chose Credit Suisse Asset Management and SG Hiscock because of their strong processes and complementary styles.
“We see the international property experience of the Credit Suisse team and its larger cap focus, combined with Hiscock’s slight bias towards small listed property trusts, as a strong complement to our existing core index manager, Colonial First State,” Lumby says.
The research houses also responded negatively to the BT/Sagitta departures, with van Eyk placing a ‘hold’ rating on the listed property funds and Morningstar downgrading BT’s sector strength rating for listed property from ‘neutral’ to ‘negative’.
However, InvestorWeb retained its ‘investment grade’ rating for BT/Sagitta’s capabilities in this area, after the surviving member of the team, Antoinette Plater, was appointed to head the team, and joined by Anthony Knep, an analyst from Burdett Buckeridge Young.
Recommended for you
Infrastructure assets are well-positioned to hedge against global uncertainty and can enhance the diversification of traditional portfolios with their evergreen characteristics, an investment chief believes.
Volatility in US markets means currency is becoming a critical decision factor in Australian investors’ ETF selection this year.
Clime Investment Management is overhauling the selection process for its APLs, with managing director Michael Baragwanath describing the threat of a product failure affecting clients as “pure nightmare fuel”.
Global X will expand its ETF range of exchange-traded funds next month with a low-cost Australian equity product as it chases ambitions of becoming a top issuer of ETFs in Australia.
