Henderson UK Property generated much improved outperformance with significantly lower volatility, FE said, while CF Ruffer Pacific delivered the highest alpha of al funds in the specialist sector.
Funds were judged on their three year track records to 31 December, with the top 10% of funds across the three metrics given five FE crowns and the following 15% receiving four crowns.
JP Morgan Multi Manager Growth, EFA Clarion Explorer Portfolio Return and Sentinel Enterprise Portfolio were the other three funds that managed to turn their fortunes from the lowest ranking of one crown to the highest of five.
On top of these five funds, another seven achieved the top rank of five crowns in their first rating, having reached a three-year track record.
Among these were Richard Pease’s Henderson Special Situations Fund, Tim Wilson’s Newton Managed Income Fund and Mike Fox’s CIS Sustainable World Trust.
Rob Gleeson, head of FE research, said: “The current rebalancing saw, as expected, an above average movement in the FE Crown Fund Ratings scores, with several funds seeing big improvements or significant downgrades.
The undulation of recent years, with a post credit crunch rally followed by another correction in 2011 and the strong performance last year, has made it a difficult environment for funds; with both aggressive and defensive strategies doing well at various times over the last three years. The movement in the ratings this time round show the re-emergence of growth strategies as the dominant source of returns.”
