The FE Alpha Manager ratings are designed to highlight the top 10 per cent of fund managers in the UK by analysing risk-adjusted alpha, outperformance in both rising and falling markets and consistent outperformance relative to a benchmark. 
It is no surprise that many of the 189 managers who hold the rating are big, household names within the industry including the likes of Neil Woodford, Richard Woolnough, Mark Barnett, Sebastian Lyon and Nigel Thomas.
Of course, though, one of the major reasons managers gain household name status – apart from their stellar track records – is because of the asset class they focus on. For example, it is likely a manager running a large-cap UK equity income fund will attract more attention (both from investors and the media) than one who runs a P2P investment trust.
This is understandable, of course, given investors’ appetite for risk and as it is unlikely that investors will hold a variety of niche funds within their portfolio.
However, for those who maybe want to add a little spice to their portfolio or just want to differentiate themselves from the crowd, here we take a look at five FE Alpha Managers who are largely ignored by investors and advisers due to the sectors their main funds reside in – in this case, the IA Specialist sector.
Mary McBain – CF Ruffer Pacific
Investors will often look to the likes of Stewart Investors or Aberdeen for their Asia Pacific exposure, however Mary McBain has generated a strong track record on her five crown-rated CF Ruffer Pacific fund over the longer term.
The £279m fund resides in the IA Specialist sector to give the manager greater flexibility, but is benchmarked against the MSCI Asia Pacific index – a commonly used metric within the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector.
According to FE Analytics, the CF Ruffer Pacific fund has returned 118.92 per cent since McBain took charge in September 2006, meaning it has nearly doubled the returns of the index over that time. As a point of comparison, that would make it a top quartile performer in the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector.
Performance of fund versus sector and index under McBain
Source: FE Analytics
The fund – which invests in different currencies, is highly active and even has a 9 per cent weighting to gold – has outperformed its benchmark in seven of the last nine calendar years that McBain has been at the helm.
They include the crash year of 2008, when the fund lost just 1.83 per cent compared to a 20 per cent fall in the index as, like all Ruffer managers, McBain maintained very cautious positioning.
As a result, the fund has had a maximum drawdown which is 10 percentage points lower than the index and better than any fund in the IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sector under McBain. CF Ruffer Pacific has an ongoing charges figure (OCF) of 1.28 per cent.
Robert Smith – Baring German Growth
When investors decide to allocate to European equities (as many have done recently given signs of economic stability and the ECB’s highly accommodative monetary policy), the large majority will choose a catch-all fund focusing on the region as a whole.
This is unsurprising, given the calibre of managers within the IA Europe ex UK sector.
Nevertheless, Robert Smith has remained one of FE’s most highly-rated managers for a number of years by purely focusing on Germany – which is often seen as the powerhouse of the European economy.
His five-crown rated Baring German Growth fund, for example, has beaten its benchmark – the HDAX – in five of the last seven years. Its largest underperformance came in the falling market of 2011, though it was just 2 percentage points.
As a result, since Smith became manager of the now £462m fund in November 2008, it has beaten the index by some 60 percentage points thanks its returns of 171.78 per cent.
Baring German Growth is a predominantly large-cap portfolio, as highlighted by its active share of 56 per cent, though Smith also invests mid and small-cap German companies. His largest sector weightings are to industrials, information technology and consumer discretionary stocks.
Baring German Growth has an OCF of 0.82 per cent.
Avinash Vazirani – Jupiter India
India is fast becoming the leading light within the emerging market space, with the large majority of funds in the IA Global Emerging Markets and IA Asia Pacific ex Japan sectors overweight the country due to its pro-reformist government and attractive demographics.
Of course, investors may wish to cut out the middle man and allocate directly to an Indian equity fund. If that is the case, it is worth noting that Avinas Vazirani is the only FE Alpha Manager who solely focuses on the region.
His five crown-rated Jupiter India fund – which weighs in at £390m – is differentiated relative to many of its peers thanks to the manager’s bias towards mid and small-caps (which currently make up 50 per cent of the portfolio).
This approach has clearly worked, though, as Jupiter India has beaten the MSCI India index by some four times since its launch in February 2008 with gains of 87.01 per cent. That means it has been the third best-performing IA India fund over the period (out of a possible 12) and has beaten the mini-sector average by 30 percentage points.
Performance of fund versus sector and index since launch
Source: FE Analytics
Jupiter India has beaten its benchmark in five of the past seven calendar years and has been one of the best performing funds in its asset class for maximum drawdown, risk-adjusted returns (as measured by its Sharpe ratio) and annualised volatility despite Vazirani’s preference for smaller companies.
Its OCF is 1.1 per cent.
Bryan Agbabian – Allianz Global Agricultural Trends
In all fairness, few UK retail investors will opt to own an equity fund that focuses entirely on the agriculture sector as if they want that sort of exposure, the chances are they will buy a global natural resources portfolio.
However, with a growing population and innovative technological advances within the industry, there are many reasons why some are bullish on the area over the longer term.
One manager who has honed his trade in the space is Bryan Agbabian, who launched the $244m Allianz Global Agricultural Trends fund – which has four FE Crowns – in April 2008.
The fund invests in companies that profit directly or indirectly from developments in area such as production, storage and transport of agricultural commodities as well as the processing and sale of foodstuffs and beverages.
For example, Agbabian’s largest holdings include the likes of Tyson Foods, Sanderson Farms and Dean Foods. Some 70 per cent of the portfolio is listed in the US.
Allianz Global Agricultural Trends has also outperformed its composite benchmark – Deutsche Borse DAX Global Agribusiness and MSCI AC World Food, Beverages, Tobbaco & Water Utilities index 66/34 split – since its launch with gains of 44.68 per cent.
Its outperformance relative to its composite benchmark has tended to come during rising markets, with the fund beating the blend of indices in good years for agriculture stocks such as 2010 and 2014.
It is an expensive offering, though, with an OCF of 2.1 per cent.
Tom Prew – Stewart Investors Latin America
Last but by no means least on this list: Tom Prew, who heads up the £130.3m Stewart Investors Latin America fund.
The Edinburgh-based group has been home to some of the best-known managers in the emerging market equity space such as Angus Tulloch, Jonathan Asante and David Gait – but Prew has been building a decent track record for himself since he started running the fund in November 2013.
Like other managers at Stewart Investors, Prew has a focus on quality growth companies – a style that has worked very well over recent years given the poor performance of Latin American equities as a result of falling commodity prices and Brazil’s economic woes.
According to FE Analytics, while Stewart Investors Latin America has lost 14.23 per cent since Prew has been at the helm, its benchmark – the MSCI Emerging Markets Latin America index – has fallen 25.32 per cent.
Performance of fund versus index under Prew
Source: FE Analytics
Though the fund has tended to lag when the index has witnessed a snap rally, Stewart Investors Latin America has had a maximum drawdown which has been some 20 percentage points over the past two and a half years or so.
Currently, Prew – along with co-manager Dominic St George – holds 42.2 per cent in Chile, 36.6 per cent in Brazil and 12 per cent in Mexico. The fund is also overweight consumer staples, in keeping with the group’s approach to investing. Its OCF is 1.19 per cent.