S&P assigns "A (New)" rating to Allianz RCM Asia Pacific Fund

Standard & Poor’s Fund Services, the leading provider of qualitative fund management ratings, has assigned a "A (New)" Fund Management Rating to Allianz RCM Asia Pacific Fund, following a detailed qualitative evaluation of the investment process and management of this fund.

This fund is managed against the MSCI AC Asia Pacific ex Japan index and therefore includes significant exposure to Australia. Since launch in January 2005 it has been managed by the CIO of the Asian team, Raymond Chan. He is an experienced investor in the region's markets, having been a portfolio manager for 17 years. In the management of this fund, he is supported by a large team of analysts/portfolio managers based in Hong Kong and currently a team based in Sydney covering Australian equities. The team has seen change over recent years. The process has, however, remained relatively constant with a focus on growth and quality together with valuation. Screens are used to generate new investment ideas for further research by the analysts or country specialists. Analyst best ideas are used to build this diversified portfolio, which aims to focus on stock selection as the primary source of return. Sector and country weightings are closely monitored relative to the index with systems in place to provide the manager with reports concerning positioning, risk and attribution.

The portfolio shows a modest growth bias, something that the manager will look to temper at times by moving towards more defensive growth stocks.

The fund has only a short performance track record, which shows strength during 2006 based on stockpicking success, but also periods of relative weakness.

Overall the experience of the manager and the resources available allow the fund to achieve an S&P "A" rating.