SLI UK Equity Unconstrained fund shakes off high beta reputation

Second-highest beta during Legget's tenure

Wes McCoy, who took over the £1.2bn Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained fund in June after the departure of Ed Legget, has said he is pleased to have survived August's market sell-off "in defensive mode", without demonstrating particularly high beta on the portfolio.

The strategy was one of the highest beta funds in the UK All Companies sector during Legget's tenure, with a beta of 1.32 to the FTSE All Share over five years to 31 October, compared to 0.96 for the sector, according to FE Trustnet. Only SLI's UK Equity Recovery fund, run by David Cumming, had a higher beta during the period. Its beta had already started to fall from this high, to 0.93 over three years and 0.76 over one year, but has dropped again under McCoy's leadership to 0.68, ranking it 238th out of 273 funds in the sector on this measure. Legget exit marks crossroads for bot...