FE announces its 2015 FE Alpha Managers, marking out 182 managers as the top 10% running funds available to UK retail investors. Of these, 37 attained the designation for the first time this year. A further nine managers were included in the 2014 list who missed out last year, but who had been rated in previous years.
The facts:
- 182 fund managers awarded FE Alpha Manager Rating
- 37 named FE Alpha Managers for the first time this year
- 10 women named FE Alpha Managers
- Fidelity Investments employs the most FE Alpha Managers with 11; Henderson Global
- Investors has 10 and Schroders has eight
Fund managers are judged according to their track records since 2000 with extra weighting for managers with the longest track records to highlight the benefits of experience. The rating is based on three components: risk-adjusted alpha; consistency of outperformance versus their benchmark; and outperformance in both up and down markets.
Among the 37 managers achieving an FE Alpha Manager Rating for the first time this year are several experienced investment heavyweights:
Terry Smith, founder and chief executive of Fundsmith, and manager of the Fundsmith Equity fund, JO Hambro's Ruth Nash, Japanese equity specialist with more than 20 years'; experience and manager of the JOCHM Japan fund; Charles Heenan, Investment director of Kennox Asset Management and manager of the Kennox Strategic Value fund
The FE Alpha Manager Ratings are designed to highlight talent, skill and experience so younger fund managers making the grade are rare. Among the industry's rising stars achieving an FE Alpha Manager Rating for the first time are:
Schroders value duo Kevin Murphy and Nick Kirrage, managers of the Schroder Recovery, Schroder Income and Schroder ISF Global Recovery funds. Murphy joined Schroders as a graduate in 2000 while Kirrage joined in 2001, having previously worked as a sector analyst. The pair have been running money since taking over the Schroder Recovery fund in 2006.
George Godber, manager of CF Miton UK Value Opportunities and FP Miton Undervalued Assets; he co-founded Matterley in 2008 and was co-manager of the firm’s flagship Undervalued Assets fund.
Will Riley, co-manager of Guinness Global Energy and Guinness Global Money Managers; he joined Somerset Capital Management from PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 2007 and began running the Guinness Global Energy fund in 2008
Veterans with an FE Alpha Manager Rating since 2009 include:
- Angus Tulloch and Martin Lau of First State Investments Jupiter Unit Trust Managers';
- Triumvirate of Algy Smith-Maxwell,
- John Chatfeild-Roberts and Peter Lawery, who qualified at the time of rebalance but has since retired.
- Neil Woodford, founding partner of Woodford Investment Management and manager of the CF Woodford Equity Income fund
- M&G bond guru Richard Woolnough Schroders’ Andy Brough and Jenny Jones
- Mark Slater, manager of the MFM Slater Growth and MFM Slater Recovery funds
Rob Gleeson, Head of Research at FE, commented: "The FE Alpha Manager Ratings assess performance throughout a manager's entire career, across all the funds he or she has managed, and are designed to reward skill, consistency, alpha generation and downside protection. The ratings are a quantitative, independent signpost for investors and advisers seeking to identify the best and brightest managers at the helm of UK retail funds.
The managers who are entering our Hall of Fame are a real testament to the power of conviction. These are managers who have tried and tested strategies and don't get swayed by short term events. While their funds will have ups and downs the fact that they have been consistently rated as the best managers in their fields for the last seven years since we launched the Alpha Manager rating goes to show the value of long term investing. The purpose of the Alpha Manager rating is to take a step back and remove short term market movements or cyclical factors from the analysis. It allows us to identify the managers who can add value over time.
There is an ongoing debate between active and passive management, and given the outstanding performance of these star managers FE felt that it was important to highlight the unique contribution that active asset managers can make to the funds which have been entrusted to them.
This year we will be hosting our inaugural FE Alpha Manager of the Year awards which will recognize these achievements and the value their active styles bring to the industry.
All 2015-rated FE Alpha Managers will be eligible to win at least 1 of 15 awards to be handed out at the Shangri-la Hotel, The Shard on 12 March.
See the attached spreadsheet for the full list of FE Alpha Managers.
Notes to Editors -
FE Alpha Manager Ratings FE Alpha Manager Ratings are awarded to the top 10% of managers running funds for UK retail investors. The ratings are based on fund managers; long-term track records since 2000, even if this includes periods working at different companies running several funds.
The rating is based on three components: risk-adjusted alpha (with track record length bias); consistent outperformance of a benchmark overall; and outperformance in both up and down markets.
FE constructs an artificial portfolio for each manager, as if all the funds they previously managed had been bought and sold during the period he/she was at the helm. All UK unit trusts and OEICs, and their respective managed time periods, are considered. Managers must have a minimum track record of 30 months to be rated. The list of FE Alpha Managers is updated annually in February.