BT tops S&P large-cap Aus equities group
Standard & Poor's Fund Services has released its ratings of the Australian equities large-cap income peer group, with BT the only manager to receive the highest rating.
Out of the 10 managers rated, BT was one of seven to maintain its previous rating, while the review announced one upgrade, one downgrade and one new manager rating.
S&P Fund Services analyst Andrew Yap says there were a number of quality offerings.
"BT's Imputation and Geared Imputation funds have retained our premier rating due to our high regard for the stock-picking skills of the investment team. [We consider the team to be] stable and well resourced," Yap said.
"We upgraded Aviva Investors Prof Dividend Builder to four stars due to our increased conviction in this fund's overall investment proposition. Conversely we downgraded Clime High Yield Underdogs Fund to two stars due to poor product features, team instability, and concerns surrounding product viability," Yap said.
Income funds continue to be popular with yield-conscious investors due to the tax benefit associated with distributable franking credits, according to S&P. Despite a newer breed of equity funds offering more sophisticated strategies, these more traditional funds were likely to remain popular with income focused investors, S&P said.
A number of previously rated 'sibling' funds from Colonial First State, Macquarie, Perpetual, Optimum and Navigator had their ratings withdrawn because they no longer met S&P's criteria of a sibling fund to the main capability or 'headline' fund.
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