Baillie Gifford has won the top prize at the FTAdviser Investment 100 Club Awards for a fifth year running, with Marlborough Fund Managers and iShares also scoring big wins.
Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford is known as a manager of growth-focused strategies, but came out on top despite a resurgence of interest in value funds during the second half of the main 12-month assessment period.
The judging panel said the fund house's track record again stood out in the Large Investment Group category, not least because its strategies triumphed in three individual categories. The firm's American and Japanese funds as well as its Scottish Mortgage trust all won out in their respective groups.
The 100 Club Awards assess funds and asset managers on a quantitative basis, analysing short- and long-term outperformance as part of a set of strict screening factors. A panel of judges then scrutinises each category to pick overall winners.
Another equity specialist, Marlborough, took home the prize for best Small to Mid-Sized Investment Group, as well as the European Equity category award. iShares, meanwhile, was commended for its array of passive products and competitive pricing.
There was also particular praise for two teams who have continued to deliver following the departure of higher-profile co-managers. JPM Macro Opportunities was one such strategy, winning in the Absolute Return category. Aegon Strategic Bond, whose managers Alexander Pelteshki and Colin Finlayson have produced strong numbers since taking over the fund, was another.
Other notable winners included RWC in the Emerging Markets group and Rathbone Ethical in the Corporate Bond category.
Investment trusts put in a solid showing, particularly in the UK equity categories, the asset class’s return to favour having helped propel a number of trusts into this year’s shortlist.
Of those, Henderson Opportunities triumphed in the growth category, and JPM Claverhouse took home the UK Equity Income award. But in the smaller companies sector it was an open-ended fund that stood out for the judges: up-and-coming manager Jonathan Winton’s Fidelity UK Smaller Companies strategy took home the prize.
Elsewhere there were also wins for firms including Ninety One, Momentum and Polar Capital.
This year’s judging panel comprised Stephen Peters of Barclays, Darius McDermott of FundCalibre, Victoria Hasler of EQ and James Calder of City Asset Management.
The initial selection methodology as well as a complete list of this year’s Club members can be found here, and all the winners are detailed below.
| Large Investment Group: |
| Baillie Gifford |
| Small to Mid-Sized Investment Group: |
| Marlborough Fund Managers |
| Passive Investment Group: |
| iShares |
| Absolute Return: |
| JPM Global Macro Opportunities |
| Asia-Pacific Equity: |
| Veritas Asian |
| European Equity: |
| Marlborough European Multi-Cap |
| Global Emerging Markets: |
| RWC Global Emerging Markets |
| Global Equity: |
| Scottish Mortgage |
| Japanese Equity: |
| Baillie Gifford Japanese |
| Mixed Asset: |
| Premier Diversified Growth |
| Mixed Asset Income: |
| Momentum Diversified Income |
| North American Equity: |
| Baillie Gifford American |
| Property: |
| BMO European Real Estate Securities |
| Specialist Bond Funds: |
| Ninety One EM Blended Debt |
| Specialist Sectors & Assets: |
| Polar Capital Biotechnology |
| Sterling Corporate Bond: |
| Rathbone Ethical |
| Sterling Strategic Bond: |
| Aegon Strategic Bond |
| UK Equity: |
| Henderson Opportunities Trust |
| UK Equity Income: |
| JPM Claverhouse IT |
| UK Smaller Companies: |
| Fidelity UK Smaller Companies |
