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Revealed: The winners of our 2021 fund awards

Revealed: The winners of our 2021 fund awards

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.

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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