Small fund players dominate Morningstar Awards

Nedgroup Investments was named the Best Fund House with a large range of funds at the Morningstar Awards held in Cape Town last night, while asset manager in the NFB advisory group won Best Fund House for the management of its small fund range.

Cape Town-based boutique manager Walter Aylett & Co won two awards in two heavy-weight categories – Best SA Equity Fund and Best Aggressive Allocation Fund.

Popular large fund managers were conspicuously absent from the award list. Only Allan Gray took one award for its Bond Fund.

NFB’s Managed Fund, which invests in popular income funds and low-cost index tracking equity invests, won the award for moderate allocation. This fund and two other asset allocation funds – one a low equity and one a global multi-asset fund that uses index-tracking investments made up its range of three funds that earned it the smaller manager title.

Absa’s Inflation Beater Fund won in the important low equity asset allocation category – the category which many investors seeking more stable returns choose.

Melville Douglas’s Global Equity Fund beat some 97 rand-denominated and offshore funds that invest in overseas markets. Melville Douglas is a boutique manager in the Standard Bank group.

Wealth manager Platinum Portfolios won the award for the best flexible allocation fund for its Worldwide Flexible Fund that invests across local and offshore markets. 

Offshore funds in Nedgroup’s range did particularly well last year for the manager which outsources the management of its funds to carefully selected “best of breed” local and global managers.

The awards focus on long-term risk-adjusted performance with some weighting to performance over the past year.

Nic Andrew, the executive head of Nedgroup Investments, says he is, however, aware that absolute returns from funds exposed to equities and listed property have been poor over the short-term. He urged investors to remain disciplined and focused on the long term.