Pacific Assets (PAC), the £450m Asia Pacific fund rocked by the departure of its fund management team led by David Gait last August, stalled last year with zero growth in the portfolio, annual results have revealed. The 0% total underlying return in net asset value in the 12 months to 31 January lagged the 28.6% sterling rise in the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan index. “This disappointing outcome places the company at the bottom of its peer group over most longer time periods and remains a central concern for the board,” the company said. It indicated a new fund manager would be appointed in the next few weeks as the strategic review launched in response to Australia’s First Sentier closing Edinburgh-based Stewart Investors in October. FSSA Investment Managers, another First Sentier subsidiary, took over the portfolio but were restricted to making minor changes to the portfolio given the strategic review.
Richard Williams, senior analyst at QuotedData, said: “The departure late last year of key portfolio managers, followed by the transition from Stewart Investors to FSSA, inevitably constrained decision-making and reduced conviction in portfolio changes in the latter part of the financial year (with the board-imposed limit on portfolio turnover during the transition further restricting the ability to adapt to rapidly evolving market conditions). The outcome of the strategic review, which has considered a new manager or combination with another company, is expected in weeks and cannot come soon enough.”
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