LONDON (Standard & Poor's) Oct. 1, 2009--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
said today that it affirmed its 'AAAf' fund credit quality and 'S1+'
volatility ratings on three offshore liquidity subfunds of Nedgroup
Investments Funds PLC. The fund credit quality and fund volatility ratings on
the following Isle of Man registered funds have been affirmed:
Nedgroup Investments Funds PLC – The U.S. Dollar Fund,
Nedgroup Investments Funds PLC – The Sterling Fund, and
Nedgroup Investments Funds PLC – The Euro Fund.
The affirmation follows a Standard & Poor's review of a revised Scheme
Particulars pertaining to a change in the investment management of the rated
funds. The 'AAAf' ratings assigned signify the extremely strong protection the
funds' portfolios provide against losses from credit defaults. The 'S1+'
volatility ratings recognize that the three subfunds will demonstrate
extremely low sensitivity to changing market conditions.
Nedgroup Investments (IOM) Ltd. established these three money market
subfunds to offer its clients the opportunity to invest in offshore vehicles
providing a high-quality, low-risk alternative to cash deposits, denominated
in British pounds sterling, euros, and U.S. dollars.
The investment objective of the subfunds is long-term capital growth
through direct or indirect investment in cash deposits, money market
instruments, and other investment funds. Following the change to the Scheme
Particulars, the subfunds will now be managed exclusively by Thomas Miller
Investments (TMI) (Isle of Man) as a replacement for the previous feeder fund
structures that invested solely in three TMI Liquidity Fund PLC subfunds.
The Nedgroup subfunds, under the investment mandate with TMI, will invest
in a diversified portfolio of high-quality money market instruments and longer
dated fixed-income securities with maturities not exceeding five years.
Investments typically include certificates of deposit, time deposits, and
fixed and floating-rate notes. All investments are denominated in the base
currency of each subfund.
Standard & Poor's assigned its 'AAAf/S1+' fund credit quality ratings and
volatility ratings to Nedgroup Investments Funds PLC in November 2008.
Nedgroup Investments Funds PLC is a company limited by shares pursuant to
the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 of the Isle of Man.
Citibank N.A. (Jersey) (not rated), a wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup
Inc. (A/Stable/A-1), has been appointed as custodian, and Fortis Prime Fund
Solutions (IOM) Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis N.V.
(BBB-/Stable/A-3), has been delegated to perform all administrative duties
that arise in connection with the administration of the funds.
Standard & Poor's will review pertinent fund information and portfolio
holding reports on a monthly basis, as part of its surveillance process.
RELATED RESEARCH
Fund Credit Quality Rating Criteria, Feb. 2, 2007
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