Following the recent announcement that Richard Peirson is to relinquish some of his responsibilities on the AXA Framlington Managed Balanced fund, we have amended our rating from AA to A.

Jamie Hooper has been named as co-manager alongside Mr Peirson having previously been deputy manager for the past three years. Mr Hooper, who has managed the AXA Framlington UK Growth fund since November 2006, will also take on responsibility for the security selection of the fund's UK equity element. In addition, Mr Peirson has passed over the management of the fund's fixed interest element to Nick Hayes, head of sterling rates and credit, however he retains responsibility for the fund's overall asset mix including the regional allocation across the fund's equity portion.

We believe that both Mr Hooper and Mr Hayes are capable fund managers in their own right with the change of rating reflecting Mr Peirson relinquishing some of his responsibilities after over 20 years of delivering strong returns for investors.