Another of Abrdn’s fixed income funds has wound up on the chopping block, our sister publication, Portfolio Adviser, has learned, as the FTSE 100 fund group continues cleaning house and weeding out stragglers from its ranks.
The asset manager notified investors on 21 April it would be liquidating the ASI Emerging Markets Bond fund on 30 June 2022.
The £26m fund has consistently been one of the worst performers in the IA Global EM Bonds Blended sector, losing investors 13% over the past year, over double the average fund’s losses.
| 6m | 1y | 3y | 5y | |
| ASI Emerging Markets Bond fund | -11.9 | -13.0 | -7.6 | -5.5 |
| IA Global EM Bonds – Blended | -5.8 | -6.3 | -1.4 | 0.5 |
Source: Trustnet
Abrdn said the fund had suffered outflows and a general decline in net asset value in recent years and, as such, was not considered to be commercially viable.
It is the second fixed income fund to be pulled from Abrdn’s line-up in a week, with Portfolio Adviser revealing the Short Duration Credit fund is also due to shut in June. Like the Emerging Markets Bond fund, it had struggled to retain assets, despite being one of the top performers in the IA Sterling Corporate Bond sector.
An Abrdn spokesperson told Portfolio Adviser: “We continually review our fund range and underlying share classes to ensure that our offering meets the requirements of clients and customers as well as our strategic priorities.”
Since the assessment of value (AoV) reports came into play in 2019, Abrdn has announced a slew of fund closures, including Lesley Duncan’s UK Impact Employment Opportunities Equity fund, the UK Recovery Equity fund and Global High Yield Bond fund.
In its last report, it found 10 funds were failing to deliver good performance, including Thomas Moore’s £681.6m UK Income Unconstrained Equity fund.
