Square Mile Investment Consulting & Research confirms the reinstatement of the Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained fund to the Academy of Funds with an A-rating, following its suspension when the previous manager left the business in June 2015.

Square Mile's recommended funds, which sit within the Academy of Funds, carry a rating - A, AA, AAA, R or P+ - as reflection of the level of conviction Square Mile's team of analysts has in a fund's ability to deliver on expectations. Square Mile's independent, qualitative research is designed to offer advisers a solid foundation for client investment propositions and recommendations.

Commenting on the Standard Life Investments UK Equity Unconstrained fund, Andrew Johnston, Senior Investment Research Analyst at Square Mile said:

"Although this fund has been managed by Wesley McCoy since the summer of 2015, he was in fact the original manager, and key in its design, when it launched in 2005. We view Mr McCoy, who remains wholly committed to its implementation, as being a thoughtful and conviction led investor, and very well suited to this strategy.

Ultimately, this fund's key strengths are that it is supported by Standard Life Investment's experienced and extensive UK equity team, underpinned by a thorough investment process and led by a manager who is well versed in this type of investing.

"We cannot, of course, ignore the fact that the fund has had some significant performance difficulties this year. However, this is very much the nature of the investment process and, as a higher risk proposition, there are going to be times when it will struggle, especially when macro events swamp fundamentals. So far this year many of the fund's holdings have lagged the market and it has also been noticeably underweight particular areas that have driven the index higher, as such it could be well positioned if market sentiment changes."