Blackrock will close its Asian Special Situations fund on 11 January next year, according to a recent letter to shareholders.
In the letter, which was sent out on 24 October, Blackrock said that it had decided to shutter the fund after a review of its size and commercial viability.
A spokesperson confirmed to Portfolio Adviser that the strategy is no longer open to new investors, and trading will cease from midday on 4 January.
The fund’s performance has been on a downward trend since its peak in February 2021, and has ranked solidly fourth quartile across all standard time frames, according to Trustnet; as of 31 October 2022, its year-to-date return was -25%.
Investors have been offered three courses of action as the closure date looms; they can either do nothing and be reimbursed after the sale of assets; switch their units for equivalent units in another Blackrock fund; or redeem units prior to the closure of the strategy.
If they decide to recoup their investment, the latter may be the better option since the fund’s value has fallen from £33m on 30 September, to £28m on 10 November.
Blackrock said: “We continually review our fund range to ensure that the investment characteristics and positioning of our funds remain both relevant and consistent with the current investment environment and expectations of our clients. Following the annual assessment of value review and careful consideration of the fund’s size and commercial viability, we have decided to close [it].”
