Leading unit trust managers who deliver consistent returns across their funds identified.
28 FEBRUARY 2020 – 19:49 MONEY REPORTER
Investec claimed the title of best fund house for a larger range of unit trust funds and Fairtree was named the best fund house for a smaller range of funds at this week’s Morningstar Awards.
Kagiso took two of individual fund awards — for its Equity Alpha Fund which was named the best SA equity fund and for its Balanced Fund which claimed the title for the best aggressive allocation fund (a multi-asset fund which can have up to 75% in equities and is suitable for your retirement investments).
The award for the best global equity fund was made to Nedgroup for its Global Equity Fund which is managed for Nedgroup by UK-based asset manager Veritas.
Morningstar Research is an independent investment research company and a subsidiary of the listed US research company of the same name.
Its local annual awards ceremony held this week in Cape Town recognised funds and fund houses that delivered the most value to investors relative to their peers in the different unit trust categories.
As the awards are made annually, the past year’s performance is slightly up-weighted, but the three- and five-year returns also count and a fund won’t qualify for an award if it hasn’t performed well over these periods as well.
While returns count the most for who wins, Morningstar does also include a measurement of the risk in the funds.
“The winning funds and fund houses demonstrated the ability to earn strong risk-adjusted returns for investors over a sustained period while avoiding undue risk,” Tal Nieburg, managing director for Morningstar SA, says.
Bradley Anthony, chief investment officer of Fairtree, with the Morningstar Award for the Best Fund House: Smaller Fund Range at the Morningstar Awards on February 27, 2020. Picture: MORNINGSTAR
In determining the award winners, Morningstar does not only measure numbers, including some qualitative factors which means if the company’s analysts have concerns about a fund and its future performance, it can be removed from the running.
A fund can also be removed if it has deviated from the way in which it says it will invest in its mandate.
The awards for the best houses are made on the basis of risk-adjusted performance across the manager’s range of funds with managers with more than 10 qualifying funds with a five-year track record being assessed for the award for the house with the larger range and managers with fewer than ten funds with five-year track record being scored for the house with a smaller range of funds.
While the awards try to ensure winning funds and houses are consistent performers, the awards still take a snapshot in time and look backwards.
When choosing a fund, you should consider more than just its most recent performance and the number of awards it has won.
The full list of winners of the 2020 Morningstar SA Fund Awards are:
FUND CATEGORY AWARDS:
Best Aggressive Allocation Fund: Kagiso Balanced
Best Bond Fund: Allan Gray Bond
Best Cautious Allocation Fund: ABSA Inflation Beater
Best Flexible Allocation Fund: Select BCI Worldwide Flexible
Best Global Equity Fund: Nedgroup Global Equity
Best Moderate Allocation Fund: Sasfin BCI Balanced
Best South Africa Equity Fund: Kagiso Equity Alpha
FUND HOUSE AWARDS:
Best Fund House: Larger Fund Range: Investec Asset Management
Best Fund House: Smaller Fund Range: Fairtree Asset Management