It may have felt like a rollercoaster ride, but the 12 months to May 31 2017 proved, in the end, less damaging than fund managers would have feared.
The challenge was to outperform rising markets, and the members of the Investment Adviser 100 Club 2017 have achieved that goal and then some.
The Club, details of which can be found at ia100.ftadviser.com, is reviewed annually and aims to highlight the best funds and investment trusts available to intermediaries by analysing short- and long-term performance, alongside other criteria.
For the second year in succession, the number of funds to have survived from the previous year’s Club is limited to just one in 10. That is not surprising given the changing market environment – returns have proved easier to come by in the past year, while previously unloved areas, such as cyclicals, have started to come back into favour.
There is more consistency when it comes to our group members, however. In the Large Investment Group, both Schroders and JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) make repeat appearances; the latter has now been a member for three years in a row. But last year’s winner, BlackRock, does not make the grade in 2017. Its number of member funds has fallen from two to one.
Schroders leads the way with seven member funds, matching the record number achieved by JPMAM two years ago. It is followed by Baillie Gifford, with six funds, and Janus Henderson with five.
Henderson was part of the Small to Mid Investment Group category in 2015, but qualifies for the larger grouping this year by virtue of its merger with Janus to create a £245bn asset manager.
JPMAM has three portfolios included, while Invesco Perpetual has two. The latter returns to the list for the first time since 2014. The Henley firm makes the cut over peers, having two member funds by virtue of the better relative performance of its portfolios.
There is also some consistency in the Small to Mid Investment Group category, defined as those businesses whose group assets under management stand at less than £100bn.
Last year’s winner, Old Mutual Global Investors, returns with three portfolios, the most in this category, and Royal London Asset Management is the other to return from 2016’s list.
Two groups make it into the category for the first time. Perhaps surprisingly, Artemis and Marlborough had never previously made the cut for standout firm. They are joined by Liontrust - who makes its first appearance since the inaugural awards in 2012.
In the Passive Investment Group, whose members are chosen by canvassing the opinion of multi-asset managers, there are repeat appearances for Fidelity, iShares, last year’s winner SPDR and Vanguard.
With BlackRock having rebranded its mainstream index funds as iShares products last month, the asset management giant no longer qualifies for the category. In its place is another tracker provider, L&G, which returns for the first time since 2015.
A panel of fund selection experts – to be announced shortly – will decide on the best fund or group in each category later this summer.
The winners will be announced at the 100 Club Awards on October 12 2017.
The 100 Club is a whole-of-market tool for intermediaries, as it pits open-ended and closed-ended funds together within categories, and also highlights the best passive fund providers.
The calculation process is based on funds’ total returns across one and five years relative to the performance of a broadly relevant benchmark or sector.
The data source was FE Analytics, and all performance figures quoted are bid-to-bid and rebased in sterling where currencies differed. The performance figures are all to May 31 2017. For more information and details about the awards night, contact Claire Harris at claire.harris@ft.com
