Introduction
Last year marked the first time the number of repeat members increased, but this has not been built on this year. This was driven by the fact that five categories – European Equity, UK Equity, UK Smaller Companies, Specialist Sectors and Assets, and Sterling Strategic Bond – have no returning members from 2014.
JPMorgan Asset Management funds have made an impression this year, with the group taking the crown for most funds, boasting seven members. The group has also returned as a Large Investment Group member, while Georgina Brittain’s £267.4m Mid Cap Trust has made it into the elite club for the first time.
Fidelity is hot on its heels, notching up four member funds, including Suranjan Mukherjee’s Asian Special Situations and the £755m European Values trust, compared with just one fund in 2014.
Fidelity is also included in two of the group categories, as a passive provider and as a large group.
The group categories were home to the most returning members, with four out of the five Passive Investment Groups back for another year and the same number reappearing in the Small to Mid Investment Group.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Equity, Global Equity and Mixed Asset Income categories have the highest number of returning funds, at three each.
Dean Cashman and Max Godwin’s M&G Japan fund and the £209m Schroder Japan Growth trust are both in the Japanese Equity sector for the second year in a row, while the Baillie Gifford Japan Trust has made it into the 100 Club for the third year running.
Among the Global Equity members, the Henderson Global Growth fund, the JOHCM Global Select fund and the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust are all back again this year.
This is also the third year that Jacqueline Kerr’s Standard Life Investments Dynamic Distribution fund has been included in the Mixed Asset Income category, while the Jupiter Distribution and Premier Multi-Asset Distribution funds are both returning members.
Elsewhere, Standard Life’s £25.8bn Global Absolute Return Strategies fund, or Gars as it is widely known, has also made a return appearance after dropping out last year.
For the second consecutive year there were 19 investment trusts in the 100 Club and again these fell across 10 categories, although there were three trust members each in the European Equity and UK Smaller Companies sectors. Last year the Property and Specialist Sectors and Assets categories held the most trust members.
In the latter category under healthcare/biotech, Frostrow Capital’s Biotech Growth Trust returned for the third time, having appeared in the 100 Club in 2012 and 2013.
While there is some consistency in this year’s club, the European and UK equity categories have seen the most significant changes.
But the big question is whether the highly represented fund groups such as JPMorgan and Fidelity can convert their memberships into awards at the 100 Club Awards in October.
Ellie Duncan is deputy features editor at Investment Adviser
