BLOG: IMA's Saunders hits back at critics on Managed sectors

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The IMA's proposed changes to the Managed sectors, announced last week, caused derision in the fund management industry. Here IMA chief executive Richard Saunders defends the plans and invites fund groups to reopen the debate.

A modest proposal from the IMA last week attracted a certain amount of comment over the weekend. Okay, a torrent of criticism. The issue is the names of our "managed", or mixed asset, fund sectors. Most of our sectors are confined to a single asset class, and naming is straightforward. In contrast, managed funds aim to deliver an optimal return for the risk that is being run through a judicious mix of equities, bonds and cash, which is adjusted as market conditions change. There are three such sectors - "active managed", "balanced managed" and "cautious managed". These names have b...