BlackRock shutters Asia Special Sits fund

11 January

BlackRock is closing its Asia Special Situations fund on 11 January, after the fund shrunk following the departure of its head of Asian equities in 2020.

The fund, which had £28.9m in assets at the end of October, has been steadily declining since the beginning of 2020, when it was about £175m. The decline coincided with the departure of Andrew Swan, formerly head of Asian equities for BlackRock, who is now with Man GLG. Swan was replaced by Stephen Andrews, who manages the fund alongside Emily Dong. Since 1 January 2020, the fund has underperformed its benchmark, the MSCI All Countries Asia ex Japan index, and its sector, Asia Pacific ex Japan. From then until 9 November this year, the fund lost 4.3%, while the sector returned 8.9% an...