Morningstar, Inc., a provider of independent investment research, announced the winners of the Morningstar UK Fund Awards. The awards recognise funds and fund groups that delivered the greatest outperformance, on a risk-adjusted basis, in 2009 and over the longer term.
Discipline and a time-tested investment approach are the common themes among many of this years winners, says Jackie Beard, director of fund research for Morningstar UK. The quantitative element of the awards looks at outperformance for the preceding year, but the methodology also places significant importance on a funds success in limiting downside risk relative to peers over a three- and five-year period. In the current market, where much of the recent success has been on the back of a rally in lowerquality and higher-risk fare, meeting these criteria will have been no easy task.
New in 2010, the awards also include the first Morningstar UK Equity Fund Manager of the Year award. This new award is the first qualitative award issued by Morningstar since the companys launch of qualitative fund research in the UK in February 2009. The award draws upon the expert qualitative fund analysis of Morningstars UK fund research team.
The winners of the Morningstar UK Fund Awards 2010 are:
Morningstar UK Equity Fund Manager of the YearAlastair Mundy Investec UK Special Situations
Investec Asset Management Ltd
Alastair Mundy is a true contrarian, says Beard. He and his team trawl the universe for stocks that others gave up long ago as a lost causeand when they find them, this is when he really comes into his own, and the analysis begins. Mundy has built his team from scratch and has created a strong and like-minded group with a common investment philosophy. This philosophy has helped Mundy and the team to produce steady, consistent outperformance over Mundys tenure, irrespective of market behaviour. Fund performance in 2008 pays testament to this, where Mundy managed to protect investors capital better than most.
Athough he still lost more than 19%, he beat his average category peer by more than eight percentage points. Over one-, three-, and five-year periods, the fund ranks in its Morningstar categorys top decile. Even better, the fund doesnt come at a high cost, with a TER approximately 11 basis points lower than the category median.
The winners in the quantitative award categories are:
Fund House Awards:
Best Large Equity Fund House
Fidelity International Ltd
Best Large Fixed Interest Fund House
Schroder Investment Management Ltd
Best Specialist Equity Fund HouseFirst State Investments Ltd
Best Specialist Fixed InterestFund House M&G Investments
Fund Category Awards:Best UK Large-Cap Equity FundMajedie Asset UK Equity A
Best UK Mid-Cap/All-CapEquity FundJOHCM UK Growth GBP
Best UK Small-Cap Equity FundInvestec UK Smaller Companies A Inc Net
Best Europe ex-UK Large-Cap Equity FundMFS Meridian Continental Europe Eq A2 GBP
Best Europe Large-Cap Equity FundFranklin European Growth A Acc
Best Global Large-Cap Equity FundVeritas Global Focus A GBP
Best Asia Pacific Equity FundVeritas Asian A GBP
Best US Large-Cap Equity FundCIF US Growth and Income B
Best Emerging Markets Equity FundAberdeen Emerging Markets A
Best Sterling Corporate Bond FundM&G Strategic Corporate Bond A Acc
D.C.