Moneyspider in the News
31/07/2007
Big name funds fail to deliver
What Investment
A household name does not guarantee top fund performance, according to investment research tool Moneyspider.com
Moneyspider's daily fund rankings have revealed a performance gap between high street banks' investment funds and those of niche or boutique fund managers. It found that NatWest and Abbey manage the lowest number of top-ranked funds, according to its criteria, with funds from Halifax and HSBC also returning poor results.
The investment research tool ranks approximately 2,000 UK unit trusts and open-ended investment company (OEIC) funds on a daily basis, displaying current valuation and performance information.
The assessment of each fund is measured against four parameters; sector ranking (based on the Investment Management Association sector definitions; ranking against all other UK unit trusts and OEICs; comparison of the fund's total return with that of the FTSE 100 index; and a comparison of the fund's performance with an equivalent amount deposited in a 90-day non-high interest, access cash account. Each fund is then rated from A (very high rating) to E (distinctly poor rating).
Of Abbey's 25 funds, six received an A or B rating from Moneyspider - 24 per cent of all its funds. In comparison, more than 90 per cent of First State Investments UK's funds received A and B ratings. Artemis Fund Managers came second with nine of its ten funds ranked A or B by Moneyspider. Others in the top four included Rathbone Unit Trust Managers and St James's Place.
'This research will come as a shock to the many private investors who have put their money into these big brand funds - and it highlights the dangers of simply relying on a well-know name to deliver top returns,' Tony Ahearne, spokesperson for Moneyspider said.
'Keeping a close eye on your fund's performance is crucial to investing successfully, as our research proves. In rapidly changing market conditions, as we are currently experiencing, knowing how a specific fund in which you are invested is performing and, equally important, how other funds compare, is simply good financial common sense.'
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