Manager Research

We have recently completed the rating on the Amplify SCI Defensive Balanced Fund. This fund is managed by Matrix Fund Managers and is a stable, low equity multi asset class fund for cautious investors.

We have rated this fund Tier 3. The business is investment led and the team is relatively stable. In addition, staff ownership in the business is high which we feel is positive. However, there are several elements of the investment process that we believe inform our rating view. Firstly, there are some inconsistencies in the asset allocation process, and the hit rate on asset allocation decisions has been mixed. Ultimately, asset allocation in this fund is an important determinant of success and we aren't confident that the current process will produce consistent outperformance for clients. Although the fund has performed well, this has been driven by relatively few decisions that we aren't yet comfortable are repeatable. In addition, contributions from the fund's equity carveout have been small and our view is that the investment process will struggle to beat the equity benchmark over an appropriate time horizon. On the positive side, the fixed income capability within Matrix is strong and this fund has benefited from security selection within fixed income.