Brooke’s fund was also took home the Portfolio Adviser Platinum Award for the UK equity income category at our recent Fund Awards.
Announcing the results of the study, his fund was described as having “a focus on undervalued, quality companies which means that Francis Brooke will never be interested in short-term market moves but a sensible focus on longer-term investor returns has seen the fund reach the top of the White List.”
Compared to the most recent study, for the mid-point of last year, Robin Geffen and Clive Beagles find their funds slipping down to the Grey List, along with John McClure’s Unicorn UK Income fund.
The study’s White, Grey and Black Lists indicate UK equity income funds that Principal IM regards as providing superior returns, indications of a fund in decline, or consistent under-performance respectively. The White List continues to look at the managers’ ability to generate income and capital returns over a five-year period.
Of the Neptune Quarterly Income fund, the study says: “Geffen’s focus on global growth is unlikely to be shared by other investors, as in these austere times, the risk probably lies with a growth disappointment rather than surprise so, with this in mind, we feel investors should monitor any holding carefully.”
Managers of the JO Hambro UK Equity Income Fund, Beagles and co-manager James Lowen are much better positioned as their stock-picking skills “will almost certainly lead to [the fund] being exposed to areas of the market not usually associated with producing income. But they have been able to increase dividend payments significantly nonetheless.”
Black List
At the bottom end of the study, Ignis, Old Mutual and Standard Life all have entries in the Black List having dropped down from the Grey List.
The study showed: “It has been a rapid descent for Standard Life UK Equity High Income, only a year ago the fund left the White List. Manager Karen Robertson has found conditions tougher than most this year as economic sensitivity played a prominent role in the portfolio. There are better options in the sector even if the outlook does turn towards Robertson’s positive views on global growth.”
The Black List also includes two non-movers – the Henderson Higher Income Fund, which now includes the assets from the previously Black Listed Gartmore UK Equity Income Fund, and the JPM UK Higher Income Fund which, despite being renamed and with a change in investment process, fares little better than the JPMorgan Premier Equity Income Fund it was known as.
