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MONEYSPIDER.COM’S QUARTERLY REPORT EXPOSES
THE CLIMBERS AND FALLERS IN THE WORLD OF FUND MANAGEMENT

Boutique fund groups top the tables - yet again

The market’s extreme volatility during the second quarter caused havoc in the ranking of UK Fund Management Groups, according to the second and latest moneyspider.com Quarterly Fund Management Report, with a number of high profile ‘climbers and fallers’. The Report, carrying rankings of funds and fund management groups in the UK, is based on the unique Moneyspider Rating® formula and confirms which groups have been bestowed with the coveted Moneyspider Maestro Award and the dreaded Moneyspider Monster Award this quarter.

This is the first time Moneyspider has been able to show who the real climbers and fallers are. The most spectacular faller for the second quarter was UBS, dropping 19 spots to rank equal 41st out of a total of 57 funds in the moneyspider.com rankings. Other big brands to suffer were Standard Life, falling 18 places to 37th and Skandia sliding down 13 spots to 40th. Big brands, including Scottish Widows, Henderson and Legal & General again feature prominently at the tail end.

Of the climbers, Prudential and Scottish Mutual were the stand out performers, climbing 15 and 13 places to rank 30th and 33rd respectively. For the second consecutive quarter, and to their credit, the boutique fund managers outshone their larger rivals, with four of the top five places for Best Overall Fund Management Group awarded to boutiques, Rathbone, Neptune, Dalton and Artemis heading the tables.

Bill Ross, Managing Director at moneyspider.com said:
“The last quarter was a hair raiser for investors, as millions were wiped off share prices and markets, but the boutique fund management houses continued to outperform their larger rivals. At the tail end however, the results once again revealed monoliths in the shape of MLC, HBSC and AEGON - amongst the poorest performing fund management groups in the UK, as measured by the percentage of A or B moneyspider.com rated funds.

“The resources boom continued to impact the rankings, propelling Investec’s Global Energy Fund to first spot as the Best Overall Fund for the second consecutive quarter. However, investors clearly need to take care not to invest at the ‘top of the market’ or in any one particularly fund just because it is enjoying a successful period. Consistency of performance across all market conditions and the longer term is key.”

As Richard Philbin, Director Fund of Funds at F&C Asset Management, the Report’s guest columnist this quarter says, “I stick to the maxim of ‘It’s TIME IN the market as opposed to TIMING the market’ which should give the best returns.”

Report highlights:

• Boutique fund management groups took four of the top five places overall
• moneyspider.com Maestro Award for Best Overall Fund Management Group - Rathbone
• moneyspider.com Monster Award for the Worst Overall Fund Management Group – MLC & Thornill
• Best Fund Overall (across all sectors) – Investec Global Energy Fund
• Worst Fund Overall (across all sectors) – Neptune CF Global Health

Launched in March 2006, the moneyspider.com Quarterly Report ranks funds and fund management groups in the UK, based on the unique moneyspider.com Rating formula. To be eligible for inclusion, fund management groups must have at least 10 funds available to the retail market, and of those 10 funds, each fund must have a performance history of at least one year.

To obtain a FREE copy of the moneyspider.com Quarterly Report, email your name and address to contact@moneyspider.com

For more information about moneyspider.com please contact:

Notes to Editors

How does it work?

moneyspider.com monitors and ranks each one of the 2,000 funds (Unit Trusts and OEICs) available in the UK. The Moneyspider Rating® provides a unique assessment of the performance of each fund measured against four key parameters:

Sector ranking: comparison with all other funds in the same sector, based on the sector definitions used by the Investment Management Association

All Funds ranking: comparison with all other 2,000 or so Unit Trusts and OEIC funds available to UK investors

FTSE 100: comparison of the total return of the Fund with the total return of the FTSE 100 index, providing a consistent benchmark for each fund, and

Cash: comparison of the Fund's performance with the return from an equivalent amount deposited in a 90 day access account.

moneyspider.com’s unique system calculates the results, with specific weightings allocated to each of the fours categories, analyzing and comparing each over 1, 3 and 5 years. A proprietary algorithm involving 34 computations produces a percentage score for each fund calculated to four decimal points, which in turn is translated in to five straightforward and easy-to-understand ratings from A (a very high rating) to E (a distinctly poor rating).

Moneyspider Limited

moneyspider.com provides investment research and funds information to private investors, helping them to make independent and informed decisions. moneyspider.com operates independent of any fund management group.

The moneyspider.com service was launched in April 2004 and is only available online.

moneyspider.com neither advises on nor sells investments. moneyspider.com does assist with switches or purchases on an execution only basis, and rebates 50% of any initial commissions to the investor, the other 50% retained to cover administrative costs.

The service is provided to the investor at no additional charge, being funded by the annual renewal commission usually paid by fund managers to financial advisers.

moneyspider.com targets any investor with an ISA, PEP, OEIC or Unit Trust who isn’t receiving impartial information on the performance of their funds, who isn’t getting a good ongoing service from their IFA or who doesn’t have an IFA.

Moneyspider Limited is an appointed representative of Anthony, Bryant and Company (Investment Consultants) Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

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