AMP Capital tweaks Future Directions funds
By Wouter Klijn
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Investment manager AMP Capital Investors has appointed Paris-based Oddo Asset Management to manage a European small and mid-cap portfolio in the Future Directions Extended Markets International Share Fund.
Oddo replaces Morgan Stanley Investment Management and has a weighting of 9.3 per cent in the $800 million fund.
AMP Capital said the replacement was the result of staff departures at Morgan Stanley.
"Morgan Stanley was terminated due to key staff departures, which resulted in the loss of important investment experience from the team overseeing the portfolio," AMP Capital Investors international and Future Directions funds investment director Sean Henaghan said.
"The multi-manager investment team considered these changes to be ultimately destabilising, with the potential to adversely affect performance."
Oddo, which has has €12 billion in funds under management, follows a bottom-up, fundamental research process, investing in a concentrated portfolio with a quality bias.
AMP Capital was attracted to Oddo's clear articulation and consistent application of this investment philosophy, which was borne out by a strong performance track record, Henaghan said.
The investment manager also made changes to its diversified fund range this month, following its annual strategic asset allocation review.
As a result, the diversified funds will have a higher allocation to emerging markets and Asian shares, with changes to be implemented in the coming weeks.
The AMP Balanced Growth Option will invest an additional 3 per cent in Asian equities and an extra 2 per cent in emerging market equities, taking the total allocation to 5 per cent for each.
These increases will be offset by a corresponding decrease in developed market international shares.
"The increase in the Asian and emerging market equities allocation is based on the favourable structural backdrop of the developing world, which is expected to deliver superior investment returns in the coming years," AMP Capital said.
"Developing nations generally have no financial balance sheet problems, no material household debt and high growth potential, reflecting their rapid rates of urbanisation and development."
Emerging markets in Latin America were also likely to be key beneficiaries of the commodities super cycle, the company said.
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