Allianz has topped the FundCalibre Fund Management Equity Index for the first time.
It was followed by Guinness in second place, Nordea in third, Royal London in fourth and Man GLG in fifth place.
The rankings put together by the FundCalibre research team are based on performance over five years versus relevant benchmarks. The aim is to identify which fund houses have the ‘most consistently strong stockpicking teams’ and add value for their investors year in, year out.
The researchers considered all actively-managed equity funds recognised by the Investment Association (IA) and available on platforms for retail investors. Each firm’s funds were then grouped together to calculate average fund performance over five years. Passives, non-equity funds, multi-manager funds and institutional funds were not included.
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Allianz managed to achieve average outperformance across its funds of 17.9%, according to FundCalibre, with all funds generating some outperformance. Standouts were the UK Listed Equity Income and UK Listed Opportunities funds which have benefitted from a more favourable environment for value funds, FundCalibre noted.
Guinness logged 16.75% in average outperformance. The strong showing was lead by its Global Equity Income and Global Innovators funds which have delivered exceptionally strong and consistent performance, FundCalibre said.
Nordea followed with 14.42% outperformance. The firm has four qualifying funds which all outperformed over the five year period. By far Nordea’s best performer was its Global Climate and Environment fund, which returned 99% over the past five years.
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Royal London’s 12.67% outperformance was driven by 17 of its 20 strategies outperforming over the five years. The Royal London Global Equity Select was the top fund, returning 134% over the past five years relative to 66% for the index. Its UK Dividend Growth and US Growth Trust also did well.
Man GLG delivered 9.72% outperformance. Man GLG Japan was a contributor to this as its style came back into favour. The group’s UK funds, Man GLG Income and Man GLG Undervalued Assets benefitted from a better environment for value.
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James Yardley, senior research analyst at FundCalibre, said: “It’s been two years since we last ran our index and there have been big changes in markets and in the top-performing fund groups. Allianz has claimed the coveted top position for the first time ever, with 100% of their funds generating outperformance.”
“Last time we ran the index we noted that the gap between growth and value had started to narrow and this has continued. Meanwhile, small-cap growth stocks have struggled over the past couple of year and unsurprisingly a number of growth focused fund groups have dropped out of the top 10 as a result.”
