Morningstar talks up fund

The audience for the JPMorgan America Large Cap fund is still "limited" despite its investment universe outperforming last year, according to Morningstar.

The ratings agency, which has awarded the fund its "standard" rating, said the portfolio was "fine for those wanting to fish in the US large and mega-cap space, but it's not for everyone".

Jackie Beard, analyst, described JPMorgan's incentive structure as "strong" and said Garrett Fish, the fund's manager, had "demonstrated skill over the years".

She said: "The process combines fundamental analysis with behavioural finance, with a dominant focus at all times on quality."

But she added the performance of US mega caps still largely determined the performance of the fund, which is benchmarked against the Russell Top 200 index. At the end of March, the index's constituents had an average market capitalisation of more than $52bn (£34bn).

"A very strong 2008 followed average returns in preceding years," she said. "Although Mr Fish is allowed to take positions of up to 5 per cent away from the benchmark at a stock level, and 4 per cent at a sector level, in reality, he rarely stays out of the biggest names."

JPMorgan was unavailable for comment at time of going to press