Two M&G funds awarded ‘A' and ‘AA' ratings by S&P

Standard & Poor's Funds Rating Service has awarded the M&G Pan European Fund with an ‘AA' and the M&G European Smaller Companies Fund with an ‘A' rating.

Giles Worthington has managed the £334.8 million M&G Pan European Fund since September 2003. The fund has delivered top quartile performance over three years and is top decile since Giles took over the fund. Charles Anniss has managed the £144.5 million M&G European Smaller Companies Fund since January 2007. The fund has delivered top quartile performance over one year and since Charles took over the fund.

Jonathan Willcocks, Managing Director Global Sales at M&G, comments: "I am delighted that S&P has awarded the M&G Pan European Fund and the M&G European Smaller Companies Fund with these new ratings. This is testament to the excellent performance among our home-grown talent and also to the strength and depth of our European equities team. These funds exemplify the type of funds M&G offers; with exposure to growth, change and value which we believe clients are looking for in their portfolios."

The M&G Pan European Fund looks to invest in companies at different stages of growth in their life cycle, taking advantage of the market's inefficiency in pricing growth over the long term. Giles' investment strategy focuses on a bottom-up stockpicking approach, unconstrained by benchmarks, top-down macro or sector-driven views, or market capitalisation limits.

The M&G European Smaller Companies Fund invests in smaller European companies, which constitute the bottom third of the market in terms of market capitalisation (between €300 million and €3 billion). Charles looks for companies able to grow earnings that are sustainable over the long term, investing in companies already capable of generating high returns or in the process of structurally improving earnings.

S&P comments on both managers: "Giles Worthington's approach is disciplined and effective and works well within an unconstrained mandate, allowing the fund to move up a level to an S&P AA rating.

Also, we believe Charles Anniss has now demonstrated his abilities, in difficult market conditions, sufficient for the fund to achieve an S&P A rating."