Allianz Global Investors (GI) is to close three funds after deciding they were “commercially unviable” because of their limited size.
The £10.5m Japan fund, £7.5m Brazil portfolio and £2.6m Allianz RiskMaster Defensive Multi Asset vehicle are all set to close on April 27, with all subscriptions and transfers into the portfolios suspended last week.
The Brazil fund launched in 2010, while the multi-asset vehicle launched in 2012 and the Japan portfolio began life in 2002. The funds’ managers will all remain at the company as they retain responsibilities for other portfolios.
In letters to investors, the company warned for each portfolio that “continuing to operate the fund at this level of investment would not be economically viable as the fund is too small to be managed efficiently”.
An Allianz GI spokesman stressed the closures were not part of a broader review of the company’s products, adding: “We constantly keep our UK product mix under review to ensure it is in line with what clients want from us.”
The fund house said it had considered merging each of the funds into other vehicles, but pointed to a variety of reasons for not doing so, such as the “particular investment objective” in the case of the Japan fund.
According to FE Analytics, over three years the Brazil fund shed 57.2 per cent, while the multi-asset fund declined by 2.3 per cent. The Japan fund delivered 37.1 per cent.
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