OBSR suspends Gartmore fund rating on Himsworth arrival

OBSR has suspended the A rating of the Gartmore UK focus fund after the company announced plans to hand over its management to Leigh Himsworth, who joined as head of equities on Monday.

Gartmore also intends to change the name of the fund to UK Alpha and, subject to FSA approval, will make changes to the risk controls and portfolio concentration of the fund with a view to increasing the typical number of holdings from 25-40 to 40-65. OBSR says it will meet Himsworth at the earliest opportunity to discuss his plans for the fund going forward. The fund is underperforming the UK All Companies sector over one year to 21 September, down 19.9% against a 3.3% sector rise, according to Morningstar.