Ten of the best: managers at the top of their peer groups

By Darius McDermott on 2 June 2020 in Best performing funds

Finding the best fund managers is both a science and an art form: you need experience and gut feel when you interview a manager about their process and philosophy, and you need the data to tell you whether they have been consistent or merely lucky.

It’s not easy, but when you find those managers, they can make a huge difference to your finances. So, when selecting our Elite Rated funds, we are looking for very best active managers in each sector – that’s why funds are either Elite or they are not: there is no grading and no room for ‘average’ or mediocre.

With that in mind, we decided to have a look at which Elite Rated managers have beaten every single one of their peers since they started managing their funds.

Here are ten of the best, starting with the longest tenure first*

Marlborough Special Situations fund has a small and mid-cap focus and is managed by the astute and pragmatic stock picker Giles Hargreave. The process has held up well across a wide range of market conditions and the long-term track record of this fund is exemplary. Eustace Santa Barbara became co-manager in 2014 and will take over the fund next year.

European Opportunities Trust has a bias towards medium and larger companies. Alexander has run this trust since launch and has developed a consistent investment process that has a record of success in different economic environments.

First State Greater China Growth invests in well-managed businesses with good corporate governance in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. Martin has consistently delivered positive performance and demand for the fund was so fierce that it was closed to new investments for four years.

Schroder Asian Alpha Plus manager Matthew Dobbs is highly experienced and able to utilise Schroder’s vast analyst resource in the region. He has a flexible mandate with few formal constraints, but the fund will typically have a bias towards larger companies.

Jupiter Strategic Bond is a flexible ‘go-anywhere’ fund that allows the manager considerable freedom to exploit opportunities across global bond markets – which he does very actively. Ariel is quite cautious in his approach and tries to limit potential losses in tough markets.

Guinness Global Equity Income fund typically consists of around 35 equal-weighted stocks, which the managers aim to hold for three to five years. The managers have substantial freedom to entirely avoid countries and sectors they don’t like.

MI Chelverton UK Equity Growth has a comprehensive and disciplined process. Manager James Baker has over 30 years of equity market experience, specialising for all of his career in UK small and medium-sized company stocks to which this fund has a bias.

Baillie Gifford are renowned growth managers, and employ this philosophy on the exciting, but high risk area, of Japanese smaller company investing. Praveen looks specifically for innovative names that have the potential to be future industry leaders.

This fund takes a multi-cap approach to the Europe equity market, with a bias towards medium-sized companies. The mangers look for quality companies, with strong brands or clear competitive advantages.

LF Gresham House UK Multi Cap Income is a concentrated multi-cap income fund with a bias towards smaller companies. It has a strong process and benefits from Ken’s unrivalled expertise in the small-cap space.

*All performance data sourced from FE Analytics: total returns in sterling, from manager start date to 2 June 2020. Sector averages are the fund or trust’s IA or IT sector.