BT scores rating upgrade

international equities australian equities BT chief investment officer fund manager risk management chief executive

25 September 2001
| By Kate Kachor |

Ratings houseAssirthas upgradedBT Funds Management(BTFM) diversified product rating from hold to investment grade, or a three star rating, announcing the upgrade after an extensive review of the fund manager.

Assirt also rerated the group’s capabilities in Australian and international equities boosting the ratings for Australian equities from weak to competent, that is two to three stars. International equities on the other hand were downgraded to weak, dropping from three to two stars.

Assirt analyst Jody Fitzgerald says the reason for the overall upgrade was due to major structural changes in the management and investment teams structure. This was combined with a tightening of portfolio construction and closer alignment with risk management processes.

“One of the key issues was the change in staff as headed up by the new chief investment officer Gary Symons. This has lead to a strategic review and a departure away from a star culture to a team culture,” Fitzgerald says.

“This meant that not all analysts recommendations went into portfolio construction but now there is a greater level of team debate. Most of the stars are gone and those who do not appreciate the new culture will probably go as well.”

The upgrade in Australian equities came out of this restructure, according to Fitzgerald, but the downgrade in international equities was due to concerns with the ability to produce competitive returns.

“For some time BT was one of a few international managers operating in the local market but there are other players now as well. There are some strengths such as the European and US portfolios which are rated at three stars but when added to the overall internation picture this does not carry through,” Fitzgerald says.

“However BT needs only to make changes at the margin to rebalance this area and become positive going forward.”

Assirt chief executive Krystyna Weston says BTFM also benefitted from a number of other factors such as strong customer service capabilities and market presence which would assist any turnaround in market perceptions of the group.

However she stressed that this was still dependent on performance in coming months.

Also receiving positive ratings were the Australian fixed interest, listed property and cash which were considered strong, while international fixed interest, asset allocation and currency were considered competent.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

3 weeks ago

This verdict highlights something deeply wrong and rotten at the heart of the FSCP. We are witnessing a heavy-handed, op...

3 weeks 5 days ago

Interesting. Would be good to know the details of the StrategyOne deal....

1 month ago

Insignia Financial has confirmed it is considering a preliminary non-binding proposal received from a US private equity giant to acquire the firm. ...

6 days 5 hours ago

Six of the seven listed financial advice licensees have reported positive share price growth in 2024, with AMP and Insignia successfully reversing earlier losses. ...

1 day 20 hours ago

Specialist wealth platform provider Mason Stevens has become the latest target of an acquisition as it enters a binding agreement with a leading Sydney-based private equi...

1 day ago