There are currently 77 active and 13 tracker funds on the Wealth 150, down from 141 active funds at inception.
Head of research Mark Dampier (pictured) says he expected the list to expand over time, following its creation in 2003. Yet while the number of funds available to UK investors has expanded significantly that has not prompted the firm to expand the list but rather allow it to shrink.
The firm says that it continues to find a wealth of talent in areas such as UK All Companies and UK smaller companies, it has no funds in several sectors including the US and technology and telecoms.
Dampier adds: “We are increasingly of the opinion that the structure of the market, which is dominated by technology giants such as Facebook and Amazon, makes it difficult for fund managers to add significant value above the index.”
Hargreaves Lansdown says that on average the Wealth 150 funds are beating their sector by 12%, their relevant benchmarks by 6.5% and outstripping comparative tracker funds 13.5%.
The firm also notes that since the launch of the Wealth 150 in 2003, the average FTSE All-Share tracker is now 28% behind the index, which Hargreaves Lansdown says is partly the result of the compound effect of charges over that time.
It adds that with fund management charges for some tracker funds coming down considerably of late, this should help to reduce this drag on performance, but it will still be present to some extent.
Dampier said: “The Wealth 150 has made life easier for hundreds of thousands of our clients over the years and since launch in 2003, our fund selections have on average outperformed their peer groups, exceeded the returns of comparative tracker funds, and beaten the most relevant benchmark indices.”
