.. of how an absolute return fund should _not_ be run

At the time of writing, with a one year return of minus 14.9% I assume they won't be taking a performance fee in the near future. Small comfort to those of us invested in this though. The May newsletter includes in their list of top holdings BP and Transocean (BP being the largest) - high risk buys in the current climate I would imagine. Hope it turns around soon...

This fund today is at 155. It has been loosing continuously for the last six months. Not the same as last year. This fund suppose to be long short fund, It just looses when the market goes up or down. It has been a very bad decision to buy it. Cannot decide if there is hope or just get out Nael Marar

I'm out at 173p. The high volatility provided the high returns at a high cost, but this fund has bled 12% in the last 6 months. GLTA

You have taken the correct decision. It is 155 today. This fund has been falling so badly and it is suppose to be a long short fund. It just falls. Completely different from last year results. nael marar

Does this fund still offer zero sales charge until it hits £500m in assets? A 5% saving upfront is very attractive. Short term performance in a concern, but like any investment you have to monitor it over full market cycles, which so far has been quite impressive

-8.1% over three months - have we had the best of it? Your thoughts please, is it time to move to index-tracking funds and get lower TER than AbsRtn? The option to short is attractive, but the costs?

Libor link especially while interest rates are being kept artificially low is a license to print money for Octopus Investments. JAP what do you expect,get a grip lad or you are doomed - unreasonable expectations syndrome strikes again.

Trustnet's own comment on performance todate is about right ie....
"Trustnet verdict
Overall, performing better than the peer group composite. Over a short track record, the manager has outperformed the peer group more often than not. There is not sufficient data to say whether good stockpicking has had any real effect on results, which have tended to be similar in rising and falling markets. The short track record means that the measurements quoted above need to be treated with some caution."

You'll know in about 5 years whether David Crawford is better than average at this - until then it's a punt which has a high premium ( like most similar funds)

http://www.octopusinvestments.com/products/oeic/absolute.html and then click on the latest month at bottom left for latest holdings. This fund has lost 10% in 2 months (since mid-October), making it the poorest performer in the absolute return sector by far over the last month and 3 months to 17/12/09. It also has a hedge-fund structure: this is handy for these uncertain times, however, the fund has a typical absolute return charging structure: annual management charge of 2%, and performance above LIBOR (currently about 0.6%) of 20%. I have this as a core holding because of the ability to short.

Remember to ignore the sharpe and information ratios re low R2.

This is one of my core holdings which has been brilliant until approx early October. What has gone wrong? Does anyone out there know? Is it time to move out or is this just a blip?

Good find, think I will do a bit of research into this one. Many thanks for posting.

90% in 18 months is pretty impressive at anytime but particularly with the way the markets have been in this time. Looking back at the portfolio history, it looks as though the managers haven't put a foot wrong. Hope they can keep it up as this could become a core holding for everybody.

so what went wrong with this fund. Does any one know????Does not seem to be related to last year achievement . Terrible results and losses for an absolute fund. Something is seriously wrong.