The April departure of lead manager Andrew Swan "erodes our conviction" in the $1.9bn BlackRock GF Asian Dragon Fund, Morningstar said in a recent client note. The cheapest share classes have been taken down to a Neutral (forward-looking) analyst rating from Bronze. The more expensive share classes are downgraded to Negative. After nine years managing Blackrock's flagship Asian equity funds in Hong Kong, Swan left abruptly last month for Australia to manage assets at an unnamed boutique firm, FSA reported earlier. Other key personnel have also left the firm in recent years, "eroding confidence in the overall group", Morningstar said. Stephen Andrews, who joined Blackrock in 2017, is the new lead manager of the fund.