The departure of analysts from the BlackRock WS Property Security Fund has resulted in the fund being placed ‘on hold’ by ratings house Standard & Poor’s.
BlackRock announced a number of staff departures yesterday and within hours Standard & Poor’s had announced its decision to place the fund ‘on hold’, based on the departure of Richard Fakhry and the impending departure of Paul Juniper, who it said they were the fund’s real estate investment trust (REIT) analysts.
The ratings house said Fakhry, together with Juniper, were previously responsible for stock research, analysis, modelling and ratings for the fund, with overarching responsibility for investment decisions residing with the managing director of property, Paul Healy.
S&P said Juniper would leave BlackRock in March next year, following the return of Danielle Carter from parental leave. Cater would be senior Australian REIT portfolio manager, supported by Nadeem Hussain.
Commenting on the decision to impose an ‘on hold’ rating, S&P fund services analyst Nathan Bode said the departure of Juniper and Fakhry was considered a loss to the fund.
“Notwithstanding Carter’s past involvement in managing the REIT portfolio, S&P expects it will take time to up-skill Hussain in REIT analysis,” Bode said. “In the interim, the fund will continue to be reliant upon Juniper and then Carter.”
Bode said S&P would review the ‘on hold’ rating once the transition had been concluded and S&P had reviewed the new investment team.
