MIR to launch Asia fund
MIR Investment Management is set to launch an Asia fund on January 1 next year, adding to its five existing unit trusts.
The MIR Asia Fund, which will have a long-only and a hedge offering, will be the first fund launch for the manager since releasing its absolute return fund in June last year.
The new fund will be managed by a “separate MIR investment team of 10 to 12 professionals but on the same platform in terms of process and philosophy”, according to managing director Michael Triguboff.
He would not comment further on the planned fund beyond saying MIR is “currently researching the fund and the details would emerge in the in the fullness of time”.
There are “no plans at the moment” for MIR to enter into another strategic alliance along the same lines as that of its alliance with Advance’s Concentrated Australian Share Fund late last year, he added.
However, Triguboff emphasised that he was “very happy” with the exclusive distribution arrangement with Advance, which seems to have “worked well in terms of the strength of inflows”.
It’s a sentiment with which Advance managing director Kate Mulligan concurs, telling Money Management that “in the six months we have had the product, the fund has already outperformed the benchmark by six per cent”.
Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s on Friday placed the Advance International Sharemarket funds “on hold” following its decision to replace funds manager Morgan Stanley with Boston Company, which currently manages the International Share Core funds.
As a result, the International Share Core funds will be rolled into the International Sharemarket funds, with the exception of a small number of retail clients who will remain in the International Share Core Funds.
A Standard & Poor’s releases said Advance believed Boston Company would provide a more consistent performance outcome for the fund while providing greater capital protection for investors in falling markets.
It noted that Boston Company has a “core” investment style with a slight value bias, which makes it a suitable replacement for Morgan Stanley.
Advance said Morgan Stanley has experienced significant staff turnover and changes to their investment process in recent times, and this has adversely affected performance.
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