Nine abrdn funds and one AXA fund retain Square Mile ratings

Investment approaches have remained the same and the funds have therefore retained their ratings, spanning Recommended, A, and AAA

Nine abrdn funds and one AXA fund have retained their Square Mile ratings after a spree of name changes, according to the latest Square Mile Academy of Funds.

In August, abrdn re-named several funds as the firm continued to carry out its rebrand from Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Nine abrdn funds with an existing Square Mile rating had their names changed last month, including strategies such as the abrdn Global Corporate Bond Tracker, abrdn Global Smaller Companies, abrdn Short Dated Global Inflation-Linked Bond Tracker and others.

Investment approaches have remained the same and the funds have therefore retained their ratings, spanning Recommended, A, and AAA.

The announcement comes five days after the Scottish manager was dropped from the FTSE 100 in the latest index reshuffle.

At the start of the month, the firm confirmed it was closing or merging 100 funds, as its half year results revealed a 17% AUM decline at its asset management arm.

Meanwhile, the AXA Framlington Managed Balanced fund retained its Square Mile A rating after its name was changed to the AXA Framlington Global Sustainable Managed fund in July.

Its investment mandate was altered to place greater emphasis on sustainable investment, with the strategy now focusing on allocating to "ESG leaders", whilst excluding harmful industries and businesses. Its core philosophy and management team remain unchanged.

According to Square Mile analysts, the move does not mark a significant departure from its previous mandate and disruption to the underlying portfolio has been minimal. They do not believe it meets the required threshold to be considered for a "Responsible" rating, however.