'Risk-targeted funds are not designed for clients'

QUICKFIRE Q&A

Julia Rampen talks to Hargreaves Lansdown's senior investment manager about risk-rated funds, star managers, and whether prospects for the US economy are as rosy as some commentators expect.

How has the investment world changed over the past 12 months? We have seen an increased focus on some of the star managers. In some sectors, the concentration on star managers has led to those funds closing. In particular, I am thinking about Aberdeen and First State in the emerging markets and Asia space. They do not want existing investors suffering from the funds getting too big, and consequently having a detrimental effect on performance, so they soft-close the funds. This has created opportunity for other fund management groups to come in. In terms of the Retail Distribution R...