• Ignis funds retains highest rating from Fitch
• Regulatory change will throw up threats and opportunities
Ignis Asset Management is pleased to announce that the £11.2bn Ignis Sterling Liquidity Fund and the €1.5bn Ignis Euro Liquidity Fund have retained their AAAmmf Fitch rating.
Fitch says the AAAmmf rating, the highest and most stable awarded by the agency, reflects the funds’ high credit quality, diversified approach and liquidity, as well as Ignis's strong resources, operational controls and governance.
The funds, overseen by head of liquidity Brian Jack, outperformed their peer groups by 32 and 27 basis points respectively over 2010.
The funds seek to maximise current income - while preserving principal and liquidity – by investing in diversified portfolios of high quality, short-term debt instruments including cash, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, floating rate notes, and bonds.
Both funds are also rated AAAm by Standard & Poor’s.
Explaining its decision to affirm the funds’ rating, Fitch says:
“Consistent with Fitch's 'AAAmmf' rating criteria, the funds seek to maintain a high credit quality by investing exclusively in securities rated at least 'A'/'F1' by Fitch or a comparable credit quality by other global rating agencies. The affirmations reflect the high credit quality, diversification, and liquidity of each fund's portfolio of assets, and Ignis's capabilities and resources as investment adviser.”
Commenting on the rating, Brian Jack, says:
“The rating from Fitch comes at a time when there is a huge amount of regulatory noise around the structure and future of money market funds. The changes will present both opportunities and threats to the industry and we have recently seen a number of high profile providers exit the market stating regulatory pressure as their reasoning.”
Ignis is fully committed to the market, believing that money market funds play an ever key role in the short term funding of markets and client demand is at all time highs post financial crisis. Ignis manages significant cash balances on behalf of clients and continues to believe that stable NAV liquidity funds are the most appropriate solution to managing these balances.
Brian Jack concludes:
“Our suite of funds continues to experience significant demand from investors looking for alternatives that provide capital preservation, diversification and flexibility. Investors are attracted to Triple A rated funds by the credit quality, liquidity and transparency that funds offer and our funds fully meet these demands. We believe that further engendering client confidence and trust in the market through openness and transparency is key to ensuring that the industry emerges stronger.”