Morningstar puts brakes on AMP Capital Investors' Aussie equities fund
Morningstar has given a scathing assessment of AMP Capital Investors’ Australian equities fund following the departure of one of the group’s analysts.
The Morningstar report was prompted by the departure of resources analyst and former head of capital funds Gary Armor. Armor is to be replaced by senior portfolio manager Greg Barnes, a recent addition to the AMP Capital Investors team.
The Morningstar statement said while Barnes has more than 20 years' investment experience, the research house described him as a “relative unknown”.
The research house went on to add that this “strategy has never been a favourite of ours”.
“There have been a number of rebirths over the years: Barnes is the fourth person to lead the Australian equities strategy since 2001. Performance has only ever been average, and we see little reason why this is likely to change given further disruption,” the Morningstar statement said.
The research house added that “investors have clearly never chosen this strategy because of the people in charge”.
Morningstar said it would meet with AMP Capital to assess the implications of the changes, however, in the meantime it would downgrade its recommendation to ‘hold’.
On the same day AMP Capital Investors announced a new “research platform” for its Asia Pacific equities operations.
The group research analysts would now be organised into sector-specific teams, rather than being organised on a regional basis.
The restructure will include the group’s Australian, New Zealand and Asian equities markets. Under the restructure, Karma Wilson will head Asian equities, Greg Barnes will head Australian equities and Guy Elliffe will lead the New Zealand equities team, all reporting to chief investment officer Mark O’Brien. Meanwhile, Hamish Carlisle will take on the role of head of research, Asia Pacific equities.
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