S&P maintains positive view on mortgage funds
The Standard & Poor's Fund Services 2012 Mortgage Fund Sector Review has been reduced to just three managers following a number of withdrawals, but those that remained all earned a rating of three stars or above.
There were no ratings changes among those three, with the Latrobe Australian Mortgage Fund Pooled Mortgage Option holding its four star ratings, while offerings from Tasmanian Perpetual Trustees and Equity Trustees both retained three star ratings.
S&P has experienced a high volume of ratings withdrawals since it announced in February that it would be withdrawing fund ratings services from the Australian market in October this year.
Managers to have withdrawn since the last review include ANZ/OnePath, Australian Unity, Perpetual, BT, Sandhurst Trustees and Challenger's Howard Mortgage funds.
"The rating outcomes of three stars and above reflects S&P's conviction in each manager's investment capability and their ability to manage: investment team continuity, liquidity and redemption provisions, lending competition and margins, portfolio credit quality/arrears and defaults, and fees," said Peter Ward, analyst at S&P Fund Services.
"The rated funds have continued to deliver on their objectives to provide regular income distributions to their investors and have maintained capital stability in an environment where substitute products remain competitive from a risk and return perspective," he said.
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