Morningstar
RecommendedMorningstar AwardsWhats New IconETFs Whats New IconIncome Week Whats New IconThematic Investing Whats New IconSign Up to Our Newsletters Open Window Icon
Fund Research & Insights

Fund Times: 24 – 28 November

Funds Under Management Fall 11% in October; Veritas Re-open Ezra Sun's Asian Fund; New Star Suspends Trading on International Property Fund; Lazard MD and UK Equities Head Retires; Old Mutual Japanese Select Fund Manager to Retire; and Artemis Close Absolute Return Hedge Fund

Tom Whitelaw 28 November, 2008 | 2:06PM
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Font-Size
Funds Under Management Fall 11% in October
 According to the Investment Management Association (IMA) UK domiciled investment funds assets under management fell by 11% in October, down to £338.9bn. Over the last 12 months fund under management are now down by 30%. The fall is not merely the consequence of declining asset prices but also the result of panicky investors moving their money to safer havens. As a result net retail sales were negative in October as outflows topped £500m. The Specialist sector was the hardest hit with outflows of £256m - with £117m of this coming out of property funds. The UK Gilts sector was the main beneficiary with an inflow of £154.8m in October.

font-weight: bold;"> Veritas Re-open Ezra Sun's Asian Fund
Veritas Asset Management announced this week that it has re-opened its Asian fund. The fund, managed by Ezra Sun, soft closed in September 2007 after the group felt it had reached capacity. Recent market falls have reduced the fund's AUM and Sun believes it can reopen to take advantage of the low valuations he sees across Asian markets. Over the last three years the fund has returned over 11.5% per annum more that its Morningstar Asia-Pacific ex-Japan Equity category peers. More recently Sun has lost 35% over 12 months, but this has still trumped the category by ten percentage points.

New Star Suspends Trading on International Property Fund
New Star this week announced that trading in the group’s International Property fund will be temporarily suspended with immediate effect. The move comes amid increased redemptions from the fund's institutional clients which have impacted the fund's liquidity. New Star has therefore suspended dealing in the fund until further notice while they look to restore liquidity. It is difficult to know how long the suspension will last as New Star may well have to sell properties to meet the redemptions. Any forced sales are likely to go through at discounted prices so in order to achieve a fair valuation in a struggling market the fund could stay closed for some time.

Lazard MD and UK Equities Head Retires
 Lazard asset management announced this week that its managing director and head of UK equities, Tony Willis, has retired after nine years at the group. Willis will remain at the group until February 2009 in order to smooth the management transition of Lazard's UK Alpha and UK Omega funds which will pass to Alan Custis. Custis will be supported by Lazard UK Income and UK Smaller Companies manager Alan Clifford.

Old Mutual Japanese Select Fund Manager to Retire
 Old Mutual have this week announced that Leslie Jones, the group’s Japanese equity specialist, is to retire after 16 years at the firm. Jones will stay at the group until April 2009 when Old Mutual’s quantitative strategy team will take over management of the Japanese Select fund, but the investment objective will not change.

Elsewhere at the group, Phil Hunter has been officially confirmed as manager on Old Mutual Asian Select after initially taking over on a temporary basis from Suresh Sadasivan in August this year.

Artemis Close Absolute Return Hedge Fund
 Artemis has announced that it is to close its Dublin-domiciled Absolute Return fund run by former Jupiter Income manager William Littlewood. The fund was launched for Littlewood in December 2005 and mainly managed the money of a small number of private clients.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Font-Size

About Author

Tom Whitelaw  

© Copyright 2022 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures

The Morningstar Star Rating for Stocks is assigned based on an analyst's estimate of a stocks fair value. It is projection/opinion and not a statement of fact. Morningstar assigns star ratings based on an analyst’s estimate of a stock's fair value. Four components drive the Star Rating: (1) our assessment of the firm’s economic moat, (2) our estimate of the stock’s fair value, (3) our uncertainty around that fair value estimate and (4) the current market price. This process culminates in a single-point star rating that is updated daily. A 5-star represents a belief that the stock is a good value at its current price; a 1-star stock isn't. If our base-case assumptions are true the market price will converge on our fair value estimate over time, generally within three years. Investments in securities are subject to market and other risks. Past performance of a security may or may not be sustained in future and is no indication of future performance. For detail information about the Morningstar Star Rating for Stocks, please visit here

Quantitative Fair Value Estimate represents Morningstar’s estimate of the per share dollar amount that a company’s equity is worth today. The Quantitative Fair Value Estimate is based on a statistical model derived from the Fair Value Estimate Morningstar’s equity analysts assign to companies which includes a financial forecast of the company. The Quantitative Fair Value Estimate is calculated daily. It is a projection/opinion and not a statement of fact. Investments in securities are subject to market and other risks. Past performance of a security may or may not be sustained in future and is no indication of future performance. For detail information about the Quantiative Fair Value Estimate, please visit here

The Morningstar Medalist Rating is the summary expression of Morningstar’s forward-looking analysis of investment strategies as offered via specific vehicles using a rating scale of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. The Medalist Ratings indicate which investments Morningstar believes are likely to outperform a relevant index or peer group average on a risk-adjusted basis over time. Investment products are evaluated on three key pillars (People, Parent, and Process) which, when coupled with a fee assessment, forms the basis for Morningstar’s conviction in those products’ investment merits and determines the Medalist Rating they’re assigned. Pillar ratings take the form of Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, and High. Pillars may be evaluated via an analyst’s qualitative assessment (either directly to a vehicle the analyst covers or indirectly when the pillar ratings of a covered vehicle are mapped to a related uncovered vehicle) or using algorithmic techniques. Vehicles are sorted by their expected performance into rating groups defined by their Morningstar Category and their active or passive status. When analysts directly cover a vehicle, they assign the three pillar ratings based on their qualitative assessment, subject to the oversight of the Analyst Rating Committee, and monitor and reevaluate them at least every 14 months. When the vehicles are covered either indirectly by analysts or by algorithm, the ratings are assigned monthly. For more detailed information about these ratings, including their methodology, please go to here

The Morningstar Medalist Ratings are not statements of fact, nor are they credit or risk ratings. The Morningstar Medalist Rating (i) should not be used as the sole basis in evaluating an investment product, (ii) involves unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected, (iii) are not guaranteed to be based on complete or accurate assumptions or models when determined algorithmically, (iv) involve the risk that the return target will not be met due to such things as unforeseen changes in changes in management, technology, economic development, interest rate development, operating and/or material costs, competitive pressure, supervisory law, exchange rate, tax rates, exchange rate changes, and/or changes in political and social conditions, and (v) should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the investment product. A change in the fundamental factors underlying the Morningstar Medalist Rating can mean that the rating is subsequently no longer accurate.

For information on the historical Morningstar Medalist Rating for any managed investment Morningstar covers, please contact your local Morningstar office.

For more detailed information about conflicts of interest, including EU MAR disclosures, please see the “Morningstar Medalist Rating Analyst Conflict of Interest & Other Disclosures for EMEA”here

Select Your Site Edition To make sure the site is relevant to you, we need to know if you’re an individual investor or a financial professional.