Investors favour consolidation of Thesis Optima fund range
Thesis Asset Management plc, the investment manager focused on professional partnerships, has announced that investors had voted in favour of its proposed consolidation of the Thesis Optima fund range.
The votes were carried in favour of both the Bond and the Multi Asset sub-funds. Both proposals sought to merge these two funds into the Optima Income sub-fund.
Thesis decided to ballot investors after conducting a product review of the fund range. Fund manager Steven Richards said “The assets in the Optima Bond and the Multi Asset sub-funds together total about £10 million. Both funds are really too small to be commercially viable and we believe investors will have more favourable long term prospects in a larger fund.”
The larger Optima Income sub-fund has a total return objective and assets of £15.1 million (as at 30/09/15).
The rationalisation will leave three Optima funds in the range: Growth, Income and Balanced. Director of marketing and business development Lawrence Cook commented “We have found investors have been more attracted to the other funds in the range and we are confident that Optima Income offers a better long term alternative for investors.”
He added “A fund offering like Optima provides an excellent service for those investors wanting a unitised service and of particular interest to those wanting to defer capital gains tax liability. We are pleased that the Income Fund has delivered very competitive returns, being first quartile year to date and, along with the Growth and Balanced Funds, has performed above its IA sector average over 1,3 and 5 years (source: Morningstar to 31/10/15).
Many advisers we work with – whose clients do not have CGT issues to consider – are choosing to recommend model portfolios now instead of funds, as they can provide a similar investment profile but typically at a lower overall cost. Our seven model portfolio mandates can meet a wide range of investment needs, and of course advisers can also recommend one or a blend of the Optima funds to achieve their clients’ objectives.”