Mercer funds rated 'highly recommended' by Lonsec

Lonsec has reaffirmed its 'highly recommended' rating of Mercer's multi-manager funds, citing the investment manager's in-depth research and experienced Australian investment team.

Mercer business leader for Asia Pacific Stephen Roberts said the fifth consecutive 'highly recommended' rating from Lonsec represented the research house's high conviction in the Mercer investment process.

"It's a testament to the quality of our underlying investment structures and our strong competitive advantages in people, process and product design," Roberts said.

The rating was also recognition of the diversification that Mercer has built into its investment process over the last 12-18 months, he added.

In its November 2011 Fund Review of the Mercer multi-manager funds, Lonsec also listed Mercer's "innovative approach to portfolio construction and the continued evolution of the funds".

Mercer also designs portfolios that are less reliant on traditional beta sources, and has one of the lowest allocations to the domestic equity market, according to Lonsec.

"Mercer has a preference for high-conviction strategies and aims to avoid over-engineering portfolios by focusing only on those managers where they hold the highest conviction," Lonsec said.

The fund manager is also willing to back new strategies early on and identify the 'next generation' managers, according to Lonsec.