Bestinvest has slapped a sell rating on Neptune’s £668.6m European Opportunities fund run by Rob Burnett.
The broker has given the fund a 1 star rating - or ‘sell’ - because of its view Mr Burnett has “struggled” to adapt to the challenging conditions amid the ongoing eurozone crisis.
Although the Neptune fund is top quartile in 10 years, in five, three and one-year periods it has delivered returns which are below the benchmark MSCI Europe ex UK index and which put it in the bottom quartile of the IMA Europe ex UK sector, according to FE Analytics.
“Whereas in previous years the top down process had yielded impressive returns to investors, more recently the manager has struggled to adapt to difficult and often opaque macro prudential environment,” Bestinvest’s Mark Lane said.
“While during this period Rob Burnett has still had periods of outperformance the net effect has been disappointing for investors and the fund has been characterised by periods of significant drawdowns.”
Mr Lane added investors should consider to switch into the 5-star rated BlackRock European Dynamic, managed by Alister Hibbert, which is top quartile in five and three years and second quartile in one, according to FE Analytics.
