One hundred and ten fund managers have received an Alpha Rating in recognition of consistent, long-term performance in Trustnet’s 2010 list of Alpha Managers.
Jupiter Investment Management has nine Alpha Managers - more than any other investment firm. Next in line is Threadneedle Investment Services, with six Alpha Managers. M&G Investments and Newton employ five Alpha Managers apiece, while Invesco Perpetual, Henderson New Star, Schroder Investment Management, Neptune Investment Management and Fidelity Investments each have four.
Trustnet is a fund information website powered by Financial Express, which is the largest distributor of fund data in the UK and the main or sole supplier of data to many of the leading data vendors, including Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and Telekurs.
Trustnet considered all UK-domiciled unit trusts and OEICs. It awarded Alpha Manager Ratings based on three components: risk-adjusted alpha; out-performance of a benchmark; and the consistency of out-performance or underperformance in rising and falling markets.
This performance was calculated across the entirety of a manager's career, over all the funds managed, with the length of his or her track record also taken into account.
This year, 40 managers gained an Alpha Rating for the first time, including Neptune Investment Management's Felix Wintle and BlackRock's Mark Lyttleton. In many cases, managers gained their Alpha Ratings on the back of exceptional performance in 2009.
Some of the managers were rated for the first time this year having achieved the minimum 30 months track record necessary to be included. Alpha Manager Ratings are weighted towards length of tenure and some managers hit a milestone that boosted their scores.
Meanwhile, 21 managers lost their Alpha Ratings. Additional managers such as Graham Birch of
BlackRock and Edward Bonham Carter of Jupiter are no longer eligible for Alpha Ratings because they ceased to run funds over the last year.
"While short-term performance obviously has an impact, it is important to note that the Alpha Manager Ratings are judged according to a manager's entire career,” Michael Holland, managing director at Financial Express.
“2009 was an exceptional year, however, with tough conditions in the first quarter followed by a once-in-a-generation market rally; stellar returns posted by many managers therefore had a larger than usual impact on their career-long scores."
