Standard and Poor's (S&P) yesterday downgraded the Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) Australian Equities Fund to two stars from three stars.
The ratings agency said that Dion Hershan, who was appointed head of Australian equities last month, was largely untested and had never run a team of more than two.
"[Hershan] has minimal experience in Australian equities-funds management relative to competitors," S&P fund analyst Tara Bell said.
"[He] brings some valuable offshore experience to his new role, but as a fund manager he is largely untested and he faces the immediate challenge of turning around an underperforming portfolio."
Hershan is the third head of equities at GSJBW within less than 12 months. An internal candidate, he replaced GSJBW's chief investment officer Andrew Cooke, who was running the fund on a temporary basis.
Cooke had only been head of equities since late 2006. He replaced Tim Hannon, who moved to head up the property team. He will remain at GSJBW as chief investment officer.
"Our rating conviction has been further impacted by the subsequent departure of senior investment analyst, Anthony Swan. S&P does not have sufficient confidence at this stage to maintain our three-star rating on the fund," Bell added.
