M&G's Rhodes: Why my fund has underperformed this year

M&G's Global Dividend fund has had a setback in performance this year as a number of stocks disappointed with dividend cuts, but manager Stuart Rhodes remains convinced the companies can increase payouts from here.

The £9bn fund has underperformed peers in the sector over the year to 11 September, returning 8.5% versus a 9.4% average for the IMA Global sector (according to FE). Rhodes (pictured), manager of the fund, said: "Our year to date numbers have not been as good as I have come to expect in the past, but the reasons for this have been stock specific." A number of stocks hurt the fund's performance in the second quarter, including Australian mining services group ALS and energy firm Fugro which fell back after cutting their dividends. Rhodes added Reckitt Benckiser was "the biggest disa...