SLI GARS suffers first negative quarter in two years

Standard Life Investments' Global Absolute Return Strategies fund has suffered its first quarterly loss since mid-2013 in the three months to 30 June after it was caught up in the market volatility seen in the second quarter.

According to FE Trustnet, the £25bn SLI GARS fund lost 1.5% during Q2. The FTSE All Share fell 2% over the period, and the MSCI World dropped 5.4% in sterling terms.  The drop is the first time the fund has made a quarterly loss since Q2 2013, when the portfolio dipped 0.9% as a result of the 'taper tantrum' sparked by the US Federal Reserve. "This is the first negative quarter we have had in quite a while. It was a very mixed quarter for us. Falls have not come from any one general area; there has been a lot of movement in the portfolio," SLI multi-asset head Guy Stern (pictured) tol...