Colonial First State Global Property Securities Fund rating unaffected by portfolio manager departure

Standard & Poor’s Fund Services today stated its rating on the Colonial First State Wholesale Colliers Global Property Securities Fund is unaffected by the departure of Stuart Martin, a Senior Portfolio Manager within Colonial First State Global Asset Management’s (CFSGAM) property securities team. 

Standard and Poor’s was informed in early 2011of Mr. Martin’s intention to repatriate to Sydney, and therefore retire from his London-based position. Effective succession planning has been put in place, with Marko van Bussel appointed as portfolio manager U.K./Europe in February 2011. The transition of UK/Europe responsibilities has been more than a six-month process. 

We believe CFSGAM has appointed an experienced and capable portfolio manager in Mr van Bussel. We believe that his over 10 years of real-estate equities experience has him well placed to manage the UK/Europe strategy.