Square Mile awarded four new ratings in November to the Wellington Global Impact fund, the Aegon High Yield Bond fund, the Abrdn Global Government Bond Tracker fund, and the Aubrey Global Emerging Markets Opportunity fund.
The company also confirmed that the Bailie Gifford High Yield Bond fund as well as the Edentree Responsible and Sustainable UK Equity fund have been ousted from the rankings, while the Artemis Corporate Bond fund and the Tellworth UK Smaller Companies fund were able to retain their ratings despite shifts within the teams.
There are currently 372 funds rated by Square Mile.
The Wellington fund was given a Responsible A rating for investing in companies the managers deem to provide solutions for environmental and social problems, led by fund managers Jason Goins and Tara Stilwell.
“Square Mile believes the investment philosophy and process developed by Wellington in this strategy deliver a clear positive social and environmental impact. In addition, the analysts feel the fund’s emerging markets exposure offers differentiation amongst its peer group,” the company said.
The Aegon and Aubrey funds were awarded A ratings. Square Mile commented that the Aegon fund managers had “consistently outperformed the wider market” while the Aubrey fund represented an “attractive proposition for long-term investors” through managers with a “distinct and sensible approach”.
The Abrdn fund was give a recommended rating, meaning it met the highest standards for the field but cannot be easily differentiated from others due to the nature of the fund.
While the Artemis fund experienced change recently with the departure of Juan Valenzuela and Rebecca Young from the fixed income team, Square Mile determined the fund should maintain its AA rating and believed the impact of the change will be “minimal”. Tellworth’s fund also held onto the A rating despite the company being purchased by Premier Miton.
Bailie Gifford’s fund lost its A rating due to a loss in analysts’ “overall conviction in the fund” especially due the performance of similar funds. EdenTree lost its A rating following the departure of Ketan Patel, who has been with the company since 2003 and at the fund’s helm since 2016. Management will now be taken over by Greg Herbert.
