Pendal shutters Global Select Fund

Only five years after it debuted, Pendal has terminated its Global Select Fund, an actively managed international equity strategy.

Due to the fund's relatively small size, as well as ongoing running costs being a higher proportion of total assets, Pendal said the fund "cannot be managed in a cost-efficient way."

The fund was incepted on 30 July 2021 and held between 30-60 stocks and required a minimum investment amount of $25,000.

It returned 15.9% p.a. before fees over three years while the benchmark made 18.1% p.a. After fees, it returned 14.9% p.a.

The strategy predominantly invested in US stocks. The rest of the funds were spread across companies that operate in countries such as Japan, the UK, Brazil and Australia.

Chris Lees and Nudgem Richyal were the senior fund managers overlooking the strategy. They have been with Perpetual's other subsidiary JO Hambro since 2008, located overseas.

"We also consider that the fund has limited prospects of significant growth in funds under management in the foreseeable future," Pendal said.

"If the fund were to continue, the fund's size would result in higher management costs for investors, which would reduce their investment returns."

Pendal formally shuttered the fund on June 16, believing this was in the best interests of investors.

The fund aimed to provide a return before fees, costs and taxes that exceeds the MSCI ACWI NR Index in AUD over rolling five-year periods.

"We regularly review our product offerings and investment capabilities to ensure that our business continues to maintain a product suite that remains viable and relevant to our investor demands," Pendal added.

Pendal recently scored a mandate from Mercer Investments Australia to help manage the Mercer Australian Shares Fund as part of an overhaul of the fund manager line-up that retained some incumbents and awarded new mandates at the same time.