Investment Adviser has unveiled the 100 Club winners for 2016 in a ceremony hosted at the FT headquarters in London, with BlackRock taking the Large Investment Group title.
The judging panel deemed BlackRock a standout because of its strong offerings in a number of asset classes, reinforced by the fact the BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust won in the Specialist Sectors and Assets category.
The judges also highlighted the way the firm engages with fund buyers and its innovative ideas.
Other big winners included Old Mutual Global Investors which took home three awards, including Small to Mid Investment Group of the Year. The Old Mutual UK Dynamic Equity fund won in the category of UK Equity for its unconstrained approach and well-resourced team, while its UK Smaller Companies fund was declared the winner in the UK Smaller Companies category for a track record “too strong to ignore”.
SPDR, meanwhile, won Passive Investment Group of the Year.
Old Mutual Global Investors was praised as a fund house for its UK equity and absolute return offerings, with the judges saying it was deserving of wider recognition, while SPDR impressed judges with competitively-priced products, built in the right way and “without any hidden risks”.
JPMorgan Asset Management took two awards, with its JPM Global Macro Opportunities fund beating competitors in the Absolute Return category and its JPM Japan fund succeeding in the Japanese Equity category.
Meanwhile Fidelity International saw its Fidelity Emerging Markets fund triumph in the Global Emerging Markets category and the fund group also scooped the North American Equity category, with Angel Agudo’s Fidelity American Special Situations fund.
The Crux European Special Situations fund run by Richard Pease was praised by judges for having “the edge on peers” and won in the European Equity category, while the Troy Income and Growth Trust won in the hotly-contested UK Equity Income category.
The judging panel consisted of Gavin Haynes, managing director at Whitechurch Securities, James Calder, research director at City Asset Management, Elizabeth Savage, head of research at Rathbones, Lucy Walker, head of third party funds at Sarasin and Stephen Peters, fund analyst at Barclays.
The winners in the Investment Adviser 100 Club Awards
Global Equity - Morgan Stanley Global Brands
Global Emerging Markets - Fidelity Emerging Markets
UK Equity - Old Mutual UK Dynamic Equity
UK Equity Income - Troy Income & Growth Trust
UK Smaller Companies - Old Mutual UK Smaller Companies
North American Equity - Fidelity American Special Situations
European Equity - Crux European Special Situations
Japanese Equity - JPM Japan
Asia Pacific Equity - Veritas Asian
Mixed Asset - Baillie Gifford Managed
Mixed Asset Income - Jupiter Distribution
Sterling Corporate Bond - M&G Corporate Bond
Sterling Strategic Bond - Aviva Investors Higher Income Plus
Specialist Bond Fund - M&G Global Macro Bond
Specialist Sectors and Assets - BlackRock Frontiers IT
Property - L&G UK Property
Absolute Return - JPM Global Macro Opportunities
Passive Investment Group - SPDR
Large Investment Group - BlackRock
Small to Mid Investment Group - Old Mutual Global Investors
