Standard & Poor’s Fund Services (S&P) has placed the Principal Global Strategic Income Fund on hold following the departure of Australian-based co-portfolio manager Robert da Silva.
The fund was previously rated four stars and had $122 million as of 30 September.
William Armstrong has replaced da Silva and joins Jon Taylor and Tina Paris in managing the fund.
“We will review the ‘on hold’ status of the fund when we meet with the fund manager in early December, as part of our yearly review of the global fixed interest peer group,” S&P analyst David Erdonmez said.
The fund returned 6.3 per cent over the past year after fees and assuming the reinvestment of distributions.
However, its return over the past five years was virtually flat, underperforming the UBS Bank Bill Index’s 5.6 per cent.
Armstrong has been with Iowa-based Principal since 1992, and da Silva joined the company in Australia in 1988.
The circumstances surrounding da Silva’s departure were unclear.
