The best and worst performing funds in April’s rally

Data from FE Analytics showed the Quilter Precious Metals Equity fund returned 44 per cent from April 1 to April 30 — the absolute best performer in the Investment Association universe.

Gold funds dominated the best performers, with the Blackrock Gold and General, ES Gold and Precious, Ninety One Global Gold and Smith & Williamson Global Gold and Resources funds joining Quilter in the top five.

Gold has been the big winner from the move by central banks to expand balance sheets to support economies, companies and individuals, with the price up almost 4 per cent in April alone, and precious metals funds have benefitted directlyAdrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen

A hefty eight of the top 10 funds in the month were gold and precious metals, even though the price of gold only rose about $100 (£80) to $1,682 (£1,350).

In general this was a substantial improvement on March, when just 3.7 per cent of the funds in the IA universe posted positive returns and investors in the top performing funds saw no more than 15 per cent returned on their cash.

Investments were boosted by equity markets rallying slightly in April. The UK’s blue chip index was up more than 8 per cent over the month while the S&P 500 saw an 18 per cent jump.

Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview Investing, said: “Investors who kept their nerve when markets imploded at the tail end of March were rewarded last month. 

“The FTSE is approximately 20 per cent off the low point and other asset classes, such as corporate bonds, have also recovered strongly.”

Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, said: “The global lockdown was not enough to deter stock markets in April which bounced back strongly as investors focused on the huge support packages being unveiled by central banks, with some markets seeing their biggest monthly gains for more than 30 years.

“Although the US has so far suffered the most from the coronavirus and has rocketing unemployment, investors reacted positively to a series of stimulus packages coming from the US government.”

Aberdeen Standard’s Strategic Investment fund was the absolute worst performer in the IA universe for April, losing almost 13 per cent over the month. By comparison, March’s worst performer — the Schroder ISF Global Energy fund — lost 44.6 per cent.

Mr Yearsley said there was “no clear trend” at the foot of the table as April saw a “real mixed bag” of underperformers.

imogen.tew@ft.com

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