Best-performing funds of 2012
| Fund | 2012 returns (%) | Sector |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Life UK Equity Unconstrained | 42 | UK All Companies |
| Fidelity UK Smaller Companies | 40.49 | UK Smaller Companies |
| Neptune UK Mid Cap | 39.38 | UK All Companies |
| JPM Turkey Equity | 38.49 | Specialist |
| Standard Life UK Equity Recovery | 37.88 | UK All Companies |
| CF Odey UK Absolute Return | 35.92 | Absolute Return |
| First State Asian Property Securities | 35.66 | Property |
| Cazenove The Capital | 35.01 | UK All Companies |
| Cazenove UK Smaller Companies | 34.29 | UK Smaller Companies |
| Schroder UK Mid 250 | 34.07 | UK All Companies |
Source: FE Analytics
Ed Legget’s Standard Life UK Equity Unconstrained fund tops the list overall, with returns of 42 per cent.
The five crown-rated Neptune UK Mid Cap portfolio, headed by FE Alpha Manager Mark Martin, is the third-best performing fund of the year, up 39.38 per cent.
Standard Life UK Equity Recovery, Cazenove’s The Capital, and Schroder UK Mid 250, headed up by FE Alpha Manager Andy Brough, also made it into the top-10.
Smaller companies funds also performed well in 2012. FE Alpha Manager Alex Wright’s Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund took second place, with returns of 40.49 per cent.
The four crown-rated fund comfortably beat the IMA UK Smaller Companies sector and the FTSE All Share, attesting to Wright’s solid stockpicking process.
Performance of fund vs sector and index in 2012
Source: FE Analytics
In terms of sectors, IMA UK Smaller Companies came out on top in 2012, with the average fund up by 20.74 per cent. European Smaller Companies is in second place with returns of 19.84 per cent, while Sterling High Yield is third with returns of 18.65 per cent.
The average UK-domiciled fund has returned 10.18 per cent in the past year.
The worst-performing sectors in 2012 have been the IMA UK Index-Linked Gilts, IMA Japan and IMA Short Term Money Market sectors.
Chris Wright’s four crown-rated Premier European Optimum Income fund is the highest yielding, paying out 9.88 per cent. Skandia High Yield Bond and Marlborough High Yield Fixed Interest finished second and third, paying out 9.64 and 9.43 per cent respectively.
The worst-performing fund of the year is SF Webb Capital Smaller Companies Gold, which lost 41.43 per cent.
One surprise from FE Trustnet’s research was that funds domiciled outside the UK delivered significantly higher total returns than their UK counterparts.
Funds focused on Turkey dominated the top performers in the FSA Offshore Recognised universe this year.
The HSBC GIF Turkey Equity fund was the best-performing fund in this area, returning 64.98 per cent in 2012.
It is followed by the three crown-rated BNP Paribas Equity Turkey Classic fund, the UBAM Turkish Equity fund and the Turkisfund Equities portfolio.
Chris Mayo, investment director at Wells Capital, says it is a surprise that so many UK-focused funds have come out on top in 2012.
"If you look at the start of 2012, I wouldn’t have expected that many UK-focused funds to be among the best performing at the end of the year," he said.
"The funds are away from the large, defensive positions and found within the UK economy pockets of growth in the small to mid cap space that at the start of 2012 you wouldn’t have expected to see."
"These are funds managed by stockpickers and have been doing very well because of this. It’s been a good year for stockpickers compared with passive and index tracking funds."