Fresh blow to 'low-cost active' as Schroders shuts UK Core fund

Schroders is winding up its UK Core fund, Investment Week can reveal, calling time on its first offering in the 'low-cost active' space after failing to gather assets in the three years since launch.

Run by Sue Noffke, Jessica Ground and Andy Simpson, the fund was launched in 2011 and marked Schroders' first attempt to offer an actively-managed equity product at a more attractive price point. The fund had a TER capped at 40 basis points, and aimed to beat its FTSE All Share benchmark by 1% per annum after fees. However, as Investment Week reported last May, low-cost active products launched by both Schroders and J.P. Morgan AM had struggled to garner a sufficient level of investor interest. Schroder UK Core, for example, has assets of just £16m after it was hit by the withdrawa...