Moneyspider - ISAs, Unit Trusts and OEICs Rating Service

Survival of the fittest - MONEYSPIDER.COM reveals the funds which have weathered the stock market storms in the past 12 months

Hundreds of thousands of 'Joe Average' investors caught up in turbulent markets - but simple fund comparison can sort tough-it-out funds from the wimps

MANY INVESTORS with Peps, Isas and Unit Trusts have seen the value of their holdings knocked for six in the wake of global stock market turbulence following the sub-prime and so-called 'credit crunch'.

But online investment fund performance analyst Moneyspider.com (www.moneyspider.com) today reveals that the hundreds of thousands of 'ordinary' investors with some of the UK's biggest and most popular funds have been hit far worse than others in their sector.

Over the course of the last 12 months, hugely popular funds run by the likes of banking giant HSBC and leading investment houses Gartmore, Morgan Stanley and AXA have suffered steep losses - while rival, more resilient funds have weathered the turbulent markets storm pretty well.

In the Equity Income sector, for example - which is popular with older investors - HSBC's massive equity income fund suffered a 12.5 per cent fall in value over the past 12 months, giving it a Moneyspider.com near bottom rated 'D' ranking (see table).

Yet if an income-seeking investor had been with rival Invesco Perpetual's 'A' rated High Income fund, they would have lost just six per cent of their investment in the last year.

"Investors need to be especially vigilant at this difficult time in the markets," said Moneyspider.com's Tony Ahearne.

"Any fool can make money in the good times. But here we are concerned with the fund managers who have that instinct for survival and have helped to steer their investors through very choppy waters since the US credit squeeze began to ripple through to global stock market funds.

"Our rating system shows how the UK's most popular funds have performed in the past 12 months and it is clearly a question of the survival of the fittest. While even the best run funds have for the most part suffered losses in the downturn, some have performed far, far worse than others.

"If you hold Peps or Isas in the popular Equity Income sector, for example, you could be losing four times more money by being in the wrong fund. It is easy to switch out to a superior performing fund.

The heavily invested UK All Companies sector has also been badly mauled in the downturn of the past six months or so - but again Ahearne warns that it is crucial to pick the right fund in the sector, otherwise investors could lose their shirts.

"If you are in the best performer, Merrill Lynch's UK Dynamic fund, then you are holding out pretty well, as the fund is down just 0.56 per cent over the last 12 months.

"But if you happen to be in the Rathbone Special Situations fund - very popular with Joe Average investor - you are looking at losses of 25 per cent over the last year," said Ahearne.

So where, if anywhere, have investors actually made positive returns over the past 12 months of immensely volatile investment conditions?

"The pick of the popular sectors (ie excluding China, Russia etc) has to be Europe Excluding UK, with funds such as Scottish Widows' European Growth and Fidelity's European Opportunities - both A rated - actually making modest gains (see table).

Fund Name	Fund Size £	Performance in percentage terms 1 Year	Performance In percentage terms 3 Years	Performance In percentage terms 5 Years	Moneyspider.com Rating
UK EQUITY INCOME
Top 5
Invesco Perp High Inc	8592868663	-6.19	47.83	146.91	A
Invesco Perp Income	6097885490	-6.94	46.58	144.43	A
SJP UK High Income	544000000	-5.63	41.55	119.31	A
Stan Life Inv UK Eq HighR	791100000	-8.64	34.71	135.62	A
Neptune Income A	551491789	-6.61	33.06	112.72	A
Bottom 5
Legg Mason UK Income A	22400000	-14.41	15.99	73.51	D
HSBC Income Ret	338339893	-12.49	12.81	73.71	D
JPM Premier Equity Income A	420161971	-15.79	13.28	68.46	D
New Star Equity Income A	291910000	-19.23	8.32	68.72	E
New Star Higher Income Ret	399081913	-21.41	5.47	69.91	E
UK ALL COMPANIES
Top 5
Merrill Lynch UK Dynamic	1478261352	-0.56	41.87	158.71	A
M&G Recovery AGBP	2900000000	-0.63	47.35	145.35	A
Schroder UK Alpha Plus	1459612309	-3.18	48.02	133.89	A
Newton UK Opportunities SIS	240660000	-0.91	40.06	132.75	A
AEGON UK Equity A	147200000	0.05	47.48	112.01	A
Bottom 5
AXA Ethical Ret	58158426	-24.71	7.11	66.18	D
Rathbone Special Situations	166610000	-25.04	-8.55	77.16	E
Sovereign Ethical	37996364	-27.41	-2.71	55.23	E
New Star Select Opportunities R	78111856	-22.04	-17.37	58.85	E
Marlborough UK Equity Growth	12000000	-22.81	-18.37	54.56	E
EUROPE EXCLUDING UK
Top 5
SVM Continental Europe A	29800000	2.79	73.47	159.07	A
Stan Life Inv European Eq Growth R	121250000	1.78	68.01	156.07	A
Neptune European Opps A	391920666	-0.63	93.17	251.23	A
Scot Wid European Growth A	133008527	3.25	61.36	138.81	A
Fidelity European Opportunities	858000000	0.76	57.21	167.61	A
Bottom 5
Legg Mason Cntl European Equity A	15300000	-8.51	29.97	111.89	C
Gartmore European Growth R	49306975	-5.89	32.85	104.18	C
Morgan Stanley Euro Ex UK Eq A	15619304	-4.61	36.48	93.23	C
CS European Ret	86610000	-4.07	31.48	87.96	C
Aberdeen European Growth A	250900000	-8.86	28.39	95.72	C

"But that sector is not without its problems: pick the wrong fund - like Aberdeen's European Growth - and you will be down by almost nine per cent year on year," added Ahearne.

"Our research will come as a shock to the many private investors who have put their money into big brand funds - and it highlights the dangers of simply relying on a well known name to deliver top returns.

"Many Pep and Isa investors will be losing money hand over fist by staying in poorly performing funds - but a simple check by Moneyspider.com will deliver an instant analysis, updated daily, and will clearly pinpoint the top performers compared with the horrors," said Ahearne.

"Keeping a close eye on your fund's performance is crucial in these uncertain times - 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."

Moneyspider was launched in April 2004 and is a totally independent investment research and information company for private investors. Moneyspider constantly monitors all 2,000 or so funds available to UK investors and provides online personal reports that are updated on a daily basis showing current valuation and performance of all funds in one place.

The Moneyspider Rating® provides a unique assessment of the performance of each fund measured against four key parameters:

Moneyspider is an appointed representative of Anthony, Bryant & Company (Investment Consultants) Limited of 25 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1NS, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The contents of this press release are not intended, and should not be construed as, advice, a recommendation or as an inducement to buy or sell any investment. Moneyspider relies on information regarding investments that is provided by third parties and accepts no liability (including that arising from negligence) for the accuracy of such information.