AMP and AXA funds deemed ‘fallen angels’

Four equity funds from AMP, AXA and Clime were placed in the ‘fallen angels’ category by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) fund rating trends summary for the first half of 2010.

The report, titled Rising Stars and Fallen Angels, defined AXA Wholesale Australian Equity Growth Fund and AMP’s Capital Australian Small Companies Fund as funds at risk of being removed from approved product lists.

At the same time, funds from Aberdeen, Advance, Hunter and MLC appear to be doing well, as they have been placed in the ‘rising stars’ category.

S&P describes ‘rising stars’ as three-star and higher rated funds, which wealth management groups and platforms typically consider ‘investment quality’.

S&P’s head of fund research, Leanne Milton, said the rating sentiment was largely positive for the first half of the year.

“In [the second quarter], we affirmed more fund ratings, the ratio of upgrades outpaced downgrades, and we assigned four-star ratings to 59 per cent of new funds assessed,” Milton said.

“The only counterpoint to this positive momentum was the significant increase in ‘on hold’ ratings in the second quarter, driven by personnel changes within investment teams,” she added.

S&P has placed a total of 26 funds on hold in the first half of 2010, most of which are Australian and international equities.

Fund ratings house also took a total of 242 rating actions in the same period, affecting $80.6 billion of funds under management in retail managed investment schemes.