Manager Research

We have recently changed the rating on the Foord Flexible Fund of Funds and Foord International Fund (offshore and Feeder versions) from Tier 1 to Tier 2.  Since the inception of our coverage of Foord in 2013 we have been observing how they have been building the team to support and ultimately succeed the founder in managing the portfolios.  For Flexible and International, these have been closely held funds and have not historically formed part of the initial multi-counsellor process where co-management was delegated to the broader team, however we are starting to see indications that this process has now started.  With the recent changes to both local and offshore investment team members we do not yet see positive progression in the areas we are concerned about with respect to longer term succession across the business.  In the short run the status quo remains and we have confidence in the team and process as it stands with Dave Foord as the key manager, and it is important to highlight that our concerns are at this point medium to longer term. In addition, the use of the Foord Global Equity Fund (Tier 3) within Foord Flexible Fund of Funds does highlight a further concern we have with respect to that fund.  We have raised these issues with Foord and they strongly disagree, however we would prefer to see more evidence of team development and stability to alleviate these concerns.