RedZone change
No fewer than seven funds which featured in the Chelsea RedZone earlier this year, have had a change of manager.
Following the purchase of Scottish Widows Investment Management (SWIP) from Lloyds Banking Group in April this year, Aberdeen has announced that it has completed the migration of all SWIP-run active equity funds. They are now being managed by the Aberdeen team - including the seven funds which appeared in the last Chelsea RedZone and accounted for more than £2.3 billion of assets:
Halifax European
SWIP Diversified Assets
SWIP Emerging Markets
SWIP MultiManager Optimal Multi Asset
SWIP MultiManager Diversity
SWIP MultiManager UK Equity Focus
SWIP UK Opportunities
Darius McDermott, Chelsea's managing director, added: “Scottish Widows had a huge number of funds, with significant assets, across a number of brands, but I'm afraid to say the majority were poor-performing. The company has consistently been one of the worst offenders in our RedZone*.
“The transition of the actively managed equity funds to Aberdeen management should be good news for investors in these funds, as hopefully Aberdeen will turn things around. We now await news as to what Aberdeen has planned for SWIP's passive equity funds. I hope, at the very least, the annual charges will be reduced significantly.”