The Fidelity Australian Equities fund has retained its five-star rating from Standard & Poor’s Fund Services (S&P), the only growth fund in the large-cap Australian equities sector to do so, S&P said.
The ratings agency downgraded the Ausbil Australian Active Equity Fund and Perennial Growth Shares Wholesale Trust to four stars. It also gave the Invesco Wholesale Australian Share fund a three-star rating, after removing it from the on hold list.
“We first assigned a five-star rating to the Fidelity Australian Equities Fund in 2008,” S&P analysts said in a statement.
“[Head of Australian equities] Paul Taylor and his team of analysts at Fidelity have demonstrated great skill over an extended period of time and we believe the manager’s competitive strengths remain in place for this to continue,” they said.
“Conversely, while we continue to regard Ausbil and Perennial Growth as two of the stronger managers in this peer group, we no longer have a five-star level of conviction.”
S&P questioned whether the size of Ausbil’s fund might challenge its particular style of growth investing and cited Perennial Growth’s reduced experience levels in its resources sector following key departures.
Meanwhile, it upgraded the three Colonial First State growth funds to four from three stars, mainly due to its conviction in the depth of the team’s industry and stock research, as well as improved stability under the leadership of CFS head of Australian equities growth Marcus Fanning.
“While we only assigned one five-star rating at this review cycle, the number of four-star ratings is a strong reflection of the overall quality of offerings within this peer group,” S&P Fund Services analyst James Gunn said.
