EquitiesNov 28 2014

Neptune to shut two more funds as interest wanes

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Neptune is to close two funds after they failed to gain interest from investors and one lost investors nearly 20 per cent from launch.

The group said it would be closing the £1.7m China Special Situations fund and the Russia Special Situations fund even though both are less than three years old. The closures are subject to FCA approval.

The China fund has delivered 22.1 per cent since launch but this is behind the MSCI China index’s 26.4 per cent, according to the group’s factsheet.

But the Russian equity fund has lost 18.6 per cent since launch, This is marginally less than its benchmark index loss of 19 per cent, the company’s data shows.

The closure of these two funds means that Neptune has closed about a third of its range in the past two years, the company said. This amounts to 13 funds.

Neptune still has a China fund and its Russia & Greater Russian fund.

“The move follows a review of our product range designed to ensure that our product offering is focused, but also fully expresses the diverse investment capabilities of our team,” a spokesperson for Neptune said.

“We have progressively increased the focus of our range to respond to a post-RDR environment.

“As a result of this, in the past two years we have closed around a third of the funds.”

The termination costs incurred will be covered by Neptune. Investors in these funds will have the option to switch into another fund managed by the company or to sell their holdings, which will be carried out free of charge.

One adviser told Investment Adviser he expects more of the group’s small funds could be closed in the near future as they are sub-scale.