Fundsmith Equity has topped two lists of financial advisers’ most recommended and researched funds this year.
Terry Smith’s flagship equity fund was this year’s most-researched on FE Analytics, according to year-end figures from the investment research tool.
FE compiles a research figure based on adding up the number of times a fund features in a research report and the number of times its factsheet is viewed. Fundsmith Equity has hit a research figure of 58,496 so far this year.
The fund also knocked last year’s favourite fund, Jupiter European, managed by Alexander Darwall, off the top spot in FE Analytics’ list and into fourth position.
Neil Woodford’s Equity Income fund was the second-most researched by advisers using FE with a research figure of 40,346. It climbed one place from last year, but it was 45% less researched than Fundsmith Equity.
FE research manager Charles Younes said: “Terry Smith is one of the most well-known UK managers and the fund continues to outperform peers, so it is not a surprise that it is so well researched by advisers.”
Fundsmith Equity tops AJ Bell list
Elsewhere, Fundsmith Equity topped AJ Bell’s list of the 10 funds most recommended by financial advisers on its Invest Centre platform.
AJ Bell’s list, published on Monday, had Jupiter European in second position while Woodford Equity Income did not feature in the top 10.
Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, said: “With 2018 being a challenging year for investors, it is perhaps understandable to see a wide spread of investment types and investment areas used by financial advisers and wealth managers over the year.
“Fundsmith Equity once again topped the list and so Jupiter European is perhaps more of a surprising entry at number two given how out of favour European equities have been this year.”
The 10 funds financial advisers recommended most during 2018 via the AJ Bell Investcentre platform
FE’s highest climber and hardest faller
The highest climber on FE’s list was the Fidelity Global Special Situations which shot into sixth position, from 78th in 2017, with a research figure of 37,250.
Younes said: “Manager Jeremy Podger was handed this portfolio in 2012 after it suffered a period of underperformance and was given free rein to refashion it, which he has done with some success so far. His ability to generate returns from various types of opportunity is impressive, and testament to the skill and experience he has accumulated over his career.”
Artemis US Select suffered the biggest fall in the rankings, dropping from 15th in 2017 to 210th place this year.
Younes added: “The fund’s performance has remained good this year, so the decline in its research position may simply be because a year has now passed since the anniversary and advisers have turned their attention elsewhere.”
Gars falls out of FE’s top 10
Standard Life Global Absolute Return Strategies (Gars) continued its fall from grace after dropping to 15th position from sixth in 2017.
In October, the fund delivered its worst monthly performance this year. The £15.2bn fell into negative territory, returning -2.3% net of fees, according to a monthly performance update from the fund team. The fund has returned -0.18% since 1 November, according to FE.
Younes said: “Poor performance over the last four years and an upcoming change to the management, with Aymeric Forest replacing Gary Stern in early 2019, make this result unsurprising. The fund has also recorded outflows, as investors were offered alternatives such as JPM Global Macro Opportunities, Invesco Perpetual Global Targeted Absolute Return and Aviva Multi Strategy Target Returns.”
