The challenge for the managers in this list going forwards, however, is to stay at the top.
Jenny Lowe is features editor at Investment Adviser
1. JPM US Smaller Companies
Manager(s): Eytan Shapiro and Christopher Jones
Sector: IMA North American Smaller Companies
Assets under management: £31.9m
12-month performance: 32.12%
JP Morgan says: “Since lows in March 2009, US equity markets have posted strong returns. And, as they have historically, small-cap stocks have bounced back more strongly than their large-cap counterparts over this period. The environment has been positive for small-cap growth stocks and more specifically our portfolio which has been positioned for a continuation of the economic recovery.”
2. Guinness Alternative Energy
Manager(s): Matthew Page and Edward Guinness
Sector: IMA Global
Assets under management: $3.7m (£2.4m)
12-month performance: 64.51%
Guinness says: “The sector was aggressively oversold post 2008 – many companies were priced for bankruptcy. Stable, lower installation prices and recovering demand have signalled a dramatic improvement in prospects and share prices across the portfolio, but we believe there is further strong growth to come that is not yet priced in.”
3. CF Ruffer Japanese Equity
Manager(s): Kentaro Nishida
Sector: IMA flexible investment
Assets under management: £478.7m
12-month performance: 48.04%
Ruffer says: “The raise in quartile ranking is probably more to do with the IMA sector the fund is in, namely ‘flexible investment’ and the fact that it’s a Japanese fund, although the fund did correctly anticipate the political changes that have taken place in the country that has helped to drive the stockmarket performance.”
4. Templeton Europe
Manager(s): Dylan Ball, Heather Arnild and Peter Moeschter
Sector: IMA Europe excluding UK
Assets under management: £10m
12-month performance: 35.17%
5. JPM Global Financials
Manager(s): Peter Kirkman and Simon Poncet
Sector: IMA Specialist
Assets under management: £124.2m
12-month performance: 29.20%
JP Morgan says: “The fund has delivered strong returns for our shareholders versus its benchmark and the broader competition. Our emphasis, which has always been on forecasting long-term earnings and understanding profitability in a ‘normalised’ environment, benefited strongly as stock-specific risk increased and the market rewarded fundamental analysis and bottom up stock picking during this period.”
6. Legg Mason US Equity
Manager(s): Mary Chris Gay
Sector: IMA North America
Assets under management: £44.2m
12-month performance: 27.34%
Legg Mason says: “During the great financial crisis, extreme price-to-value gaps opened up in several individual stocks across market sectors, which drove portfolio performance coming out of the crisis bottom. More recently, extreme price-to-value gaps opened up in specific market sectors, specifically financials, technology and healthcare, which were selling near multi-decade valuation lows.”
7. Axa Framlington Financial
Manager(s): Susan Sternglass Noble
Sector: IMA Specialist
Assets under management: £46.7m
12-month performance: 25.84%
Axa Framlington says: “Using a global perspective, the fund invests in well-managed financial services companies with strong earnings power and competitive advantages. Many were undervalued coming out of the financial crisis, and we still see opportunities for solid investment returns as the global economy gradually recovers.”
