Schroders has topped FE’s latest Crown Ratings table, with Architas and Pimco making the top three for the first time.
Schroders retained its number one spot in the group league table after it added five top rated funds in the six month period, up from 11 in July last year.
Architas came second after more than doubling its number of five FE crown rated funds from six to 13. Pimco was third with 12 funds, up from five at the July rebalance.
Charles Younes, research manager at FE, said Architas’ leap up the table could be explained by the dominance of multi asset, volatility managed funds in their range, this strategy having worked well in 2018.
He said: "Considering that neither Architas nor Pimco has appeared in the top five groups before, to achieve a top three place is outstanding.
"Most of Pimco’s fixed income funds have seen upgrades at this rebalance reflecting the strong performance across the range."
Funds must have three years of history to qualify for a FE crown rating.
FE crown ratings are calculated by using an alpha based test, and a volatility and consistency score, which are applied to the fund’s performance over the last three years.
A total of 16 previously unrated funds achieved the highest ranking of five FE crowns in the latest list. These included the Baillie Gifford Global Stewardship fund, the First State Asia Focus fund, and the Royal London Global Bond Opportunities fund.
Seven of Vanguard’s Target Retirement funds also achieved five FE crowns for their first rating.
Others groups who made the top 20 league table included Blackrock, Fidelity International, and AllianceBernstein, whose AB Concentrated US Equity Portfolio has seen a move from two to five FE crowns.
FE said all sectors have seen some churn in the ratings of their funds, with 48 per cent of funds gaining or losing FE crowns during this rebalance.
Tanvi Kandlur, senior fund analyst at FE, said: "Most of the funds downgraded have a strong growth tilt and are concentrated in nature which did very well in 2017.
"However, in 2018 some European managers saw several stocks sell off significantly post earnings misses, which hit the concentrated funds hardest."
In terms of sectors, the Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) equity sector stood out, with 51 per cent of funds being awarded either a four or five FE crown rating, up from 40 per cent in July 2018.
Conversely, 50 per cent of European (ex UK) equity funds saw a FE crown rating downgrade at this rebalance.
Dippy Singh is a freelance reporter for FTAdviser
