Standard & Poor’s Fund Services has placed the CFS Wholesale Global Share and CFS Wholesale Geared Global Share funds ‘On Hold’ following the departure of financials specialist, Nonie Zaremba from the manager’s global equity team.
As a result, the head of the team, Habib Subjally, has once again assumed interim coverage of financials, in addition to his ongoing management responsibilities.
Ms Zaremba only joined the team in March 2011, replacing one of the two financials specialists, whose departures in November 2010 led us to place the funds ‘On Hold’. We then downgraded both funds to three stars in March as part of our most recent global equity sector review, reflecting our lower level of overall conviction relative to peers. The team’s health care specialist subsequently resigned in June, which has now been followed by Ms Zaremba’s departure.
“Compared with the more common portfolio manager/analyst decision-making structure, the team’s sector specialists are the key decision makers for the fund. This helps empower the specialists but also increases the team’s sensitivity to departures,” said S&P Fund Services analyst James Gunn.
Ms Zaremba’s direct replacement starts in October, with an additional financials and health care specialist still to be appointed. We will review the funds’ ‘On Hold’ status once these additional hires have been made.
