LSEG Dewi John: Egos and Cheques

Downfall of GARS

In late July came the news that the once mighty GARS fund was to close, and with it another checkered episode in the history of UK fund management.

The fund has seen a lot of attention lately, so I would rather take a broader look at the Investment Association sector—Target Absolute Return (TAR)—of which it was a leading member. In 2015 and 2016, TAR had the highest sector net flows, and between 2013 and 2017 it attracted £56.9bn—coming second only to Strategic Bond over the period. 'The writing has been on the wall for some time' for abrdn's GARS That was the apex of TAR's success. Fund flows began to slacken thereafter. On an annualised basis, flows have been negative every year since 2018, summing to £55.93bn by the end of ...