RATINGS METHODOLOGY

Zenith undertakes thorough screening of each asset class to identify quality managed investment opportunities.

This is followed by an extensive due diligence process, where funds are assigned a rating. This rating is based on Zenith’s proprietary scoring system.

The quantitative assessment is flexible in that we do not rely on a performance history of three years to positively rate a fund and may use the history of an investment manager at a previous organisation if required (eg. in the assessment of Orion Asset Management we assessed the performance history of Tim Ryan at Credit Suisse).

Each fund is assigned an overall score/rating:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Only a small number of funds achieve a Highly Recommended rating. These products typically rate first quartile on each of the following criteria - investment personnel, security selection, portfolio construction, risk management, organisational strength and risk adjusted performance.

RECOMMENDED

Recommended products are deemed strong investments within their respective asset class, typically rating first quartile on most criteria.

APPROVED

Approved products are deemed above investment grade investments within their respective asset class. Approved candidates typically rate above the median on most of the assessed criteria.

NOT APPROVED

The large majority of those funds rated "Not Approved" do not pass the initial quantitative risk and performance filters. A smaller percentage of managers are also culled following the face-to-face interview process with key personnel.

UNDER REVIEW

An Under Review rating is typically triggered by an exceptional event which warrants further investigation by the Zenith research team. Some examples include a manager not meeting one or more of their investment criteria (poor performance, style drift, breach risk mandate etc) or senior personnel departure / arrival.

REDEEM

A redeem rating will be placed on a product where there has been a significant event that Zenith believes strongly adversely impacts the product to such an extent that investors are advised to redeem (withdraw) their investment in the product.