The £4.8bn Jupiter European fund, managed by Alex Darwall, was the most viewed by advisers on fund research tool FE Analytics in 2017.
The fund has returned 30 per cent over the past year to 19 December, compared with 20 per cent for the average fund in the IA Europe Excluding UK sector in the same time period.
A total of 47 per cent more advisers researched the Jupiter European fund than the next most viewed vehicle, the £13.3bn Fundsmith Equity fund, a global equity product run by Terry Smith.
Fundsmith has returned 86 per cent over the past three years to 19 December, compared with 47 per cent for the average fund in the IA Global sector in the same time period.
This ranks the fund the absolute top performer from 163 funds in the sector over that time period.
Tanvi Kandlur, FE analyst, said: "FE Alpha Manager, Alexander Darwall has built up an impressive track record in European equity investing. The reason for its popularity among advisers is likely down to the fund's strong performance this year.
"Over a one-year period (as of 18 December), Jupiter European is the best performing fund in the IA Europe excluding UK sector.
"Darwall's style of investing in high-quality companies with growth potential can weather various market environments. The strategy has demonstrated that it can consistently add alpha over the long-term through superior stock picking."
The most viewed fund of 2016 was Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategy (Gars).
The fund was only the sixth most viewed on the research tool in 2017.
The £21bn strategy has endured a period of mediocre performance, returning 3.6 per cent over the past three years to 19 December, compared with 6 per cent for the average fund in the IA Targeted Absolute Return sector in the same time period.
david.thorpe@ft.com
