Deutsche held, BT up in ratings game

Deutsche Asset Management’s Global Select Equity and Global Bond funds have been hit with multiple ‘hold’ recommendations due to management changes resulting from the sale of its UK business, but there is better news for BT’s Focus Australian Share Fund which has snared a place on a researcher’s model portfolio.

The jury is out at both Morningstar and Standard & Poors on Deutsche’s Global Bond Fund, whose management will shift from London to Frankfurt after the sale of Deutsche’s UK share and bond business to Aberdeen Asset Management. Morningstar tips the change will make the fund “less credit-centric”.

Morningstar has also placed Deutsche’s Global Select Equity fund on hold, as head of research Bill Barron takes over from Aberdeen-bound Charles Martyn-Hemphill. Morningstar worries about “Barron’s limited direct experience with the strategy to date, particularly as this is a high-conviction concentrated portfolio where intimate knowledge of the stockholdings is critical.”

Meanwhile, Zenith Investment Partners has recognised the turnaround in BT’s fortunes in Australian equities under Crispin Murray, giving its concentrated Focus Australian Share Fund a berth on its high conviction Alternative Australian Equities model portfolio.