Moneyspider in the News

Why big isn't always best

Money Week 

You'd think the big names in finance would have investing sewn up. With more money, resources and manpower, the Goliaths of the financial world should surely be able to trounce their smaller rivals. But not so. In fact, as research from fund comparison website moneyspider.comshows, the big players can't come close to catching their smaller more nimble rivals. Rating funds from A (best) to E (worst), Moneyspider.com found that big names, such as Scottish Widows, Standard Life, Henderson Global Investors, Legal & General, Invesco Perpetual, F&C and Fidelity have some of the worst performing funds available. Scottish Widows alone is home to 20 out of a total of 38 funds with D and E ratings.

Take the global growth sector. Over the past five years, £5,000 investment in the Neptune Global Equity fund would have made the investor a profit of £8,071. Rathbone Global Opportunities comes next, with a £6,086 profit. The same amount in Scottish Widows Global Growth would have made just £662.

It 'shows the importance of not automatically putting your trust in big name fund management houses,' says Moneyspider Managing Director, Bill Ross. 'Small but perfectly formed houses, such as Rathbone and Neptune, can seriously reward investors who are prepared to consider unfamiliar names,' he says.