Ratings agency FundCalibre has handed its elite rating to a raft of new funds following its most recent investment committee meeting.
In the latest batch of nine top ratings from the service are two real estate securities funds and two emerging market equity income funds.
The new ratings bring the number of funds rated as elite on FundCalibre up to 126; the firm had said it expects to award elite ratings to roughly 10 per cent of the 3,000 funds widely available to retail investors.
FundCalibre has given its elite rating to two Baillie Gifford bond funds, its Corporate Bond and High Yield funds, complementing the simple but effective investment process from the teams on both funds.
The firm has also given the seal of approval to Edward Lam’s Somerset Emerging Markets Dividend Growth fund, as well as the “hidden gem” Charlemagne Emerging Market Dividend fund.
It has added its first real estate securities funds to the elite list with the F&C Real Estate Securities and the Premier Pan European Property funds.
With multi-asset income funds expected to come into vogue in the next few months as investors look for diversified approaches to income with their retirement money, FundCalibre has awarded the JPM Multi Asset Income fund an elite rating.
The other funds awarded the highest rating were the Legg Mason Clearbridge US Aggressive Growth fund and the T Rowe Price European Smaller Companies fund.
Darius McDermott, managing director of FundCalibre, said the firm had continued to broadened our search for Elite rated funds over the past few months” following the founding of FundCalibre.
He said the rating process had been “concentrating particularly on sectors where investors would like more choice: for example, good emerging market equity funds that are actually open to new investors, as well as funds investing in property and high yield”.
