New Ratings
M&G Pan European Select – Bronze
Samuel Meakin
John William Olsen took over this fund in July 2014, having joined M&G the same year from Danske Capital. He built strong track records at Danske on global and European strategies. Olsen employs the same process here, and we believe it is sensible and repeatable. It focuses on finding companies with sustainable long-term competitive advantages, and then waiting for an opportunity to buy a position at an attractive price. We believe the manager applies the process well and with consistency: the quality emphasis, coupled with the discipline on valuations, is clearly reflected in the portfolio's characteristics.
Downgrades
Lazard Global Equity Income – Neutral
Jeffrey Schumacher
This fund has been managed by Lazard veterans Patrick Ryan and Kyle Waldhauer since inception in 2007. They apply a distinctive, aggressive style of dividend investing compared with traditional peers. The fund has a strong bias to small caps and mid-caps, while giving a structural overweighting to developing markets versus peers. The fund also exhibits strong tilts towards value and cyclical sectors. This results in a higher beta versus its benchmark and peers. Investors have experienced a bumpy ride since the inception of the strategy. We think the fund would benefit from a better balance of risk factors in its portfolio. Although we see some positive elements here, the risks embedded in this strategy, indicated by higher standard deviations and maximum drawdowns, outweigh our previous conviction.