Fidelity is set to lose one of its top-performing managers as its Asian equity star Allan Liu is set to retire from the group at the end of June.
His offshore €2.7bn (£2bn) Fidelity Funds South East Asia fund will be handed over to Dhanajay Phadnis on March 1 this year. Mr Liu, who has been at the asset manager for 27 years, will stay with Fidelity in an advisory role up to June 30.
Following the announcement of the retirement, Square Mile Investment Consulting & Research removed the fund from its list of funds. They had previously given the fund an AA rating.
Morningstar has also placed the fund under review. The fund was previously rated Silver by the rating agency.
Mr Liu’s fund has preformed strongly since he started managing the fund in April 2001. He has returned 283.5 per, compared to his peer group which has returned just 242.65 per cent, according to data from FE Analytics.
From March the fund will change its reference index from the MSCI All-Country Far East ex-Japan index to the MSCI All Country Asia-ex Japan index.
The difference between the two indices is that the MSCI All Country Asia ex-Japan index also includes India, while the MSCI All Country Far East ex-Japan index does not.
Amaya Assan, investment research analyst at Square Mile said: “We have a high opinion of Allan Liu, who has been investing in the region since 1990.
“He has skilfully navigated the often-challenging Asian equity stock markets using the same investment approach since 1993. We wish him all the best for the future.”
