Square Mile's Hovenden: Two-thirds of AR funds have failed investors

Knock-on effect of pandemic

Some 28 funds out of 120 in the IA Targeted Absolute Return sector lost investors more than 10% during the first quarter of 2020, according to Square Mile's Charles Hovenden, who warned "this is not in line with what absolute return investing sets out to do".

However, he pointed out that while just one-third of funds in the absolute return sector managed to lose less than 3% or achieve a positive total return, their performance so far has still been better than the torrid year they suffered in 2018 when only 17 funds avoided losses by the end of the year. "Those who regularly monitor the performance of absolute return funds have become accustomed to them not meeting expectations and the first quarter of 2020 was no exception," he said.  "There are 120 funds within the IA Targeted Absolute Return sector and of these only 23 gave a positive ...