Reigns and crowns come and go, but some funds have managed to maintain their ‘rule’ of a sector for longer than others.
In this new series, Trustnet is looking for Investment Association funds with a current maximum FE fundinfo Crown rating, which have also maintained this top ranking for most of the past decade.
Updated twice a year, Crown ratings are awarded based on a fund’s performance over the previous three years as measured by alpha, volatility and consistently strong returns. The top 10% of funds, according to these metrics, receive five Crowns, displaying above-average stockpicking and consistency of outperformance against a relevant benchmark with lower risk.
Below, we screened the IA Global sector for the longest-reigning five-Crown funds since 2016.
MS INVF Global Opportunity came out top, with 60% of the past decade (12 out of 20 periods) spent as a five-Crown holder.
With $12bn of assets under management (AUM), the strategy is managed by FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Kristian Heugh, who focuses on companies believed to be undervalued at the time of purchase (otherwise known as the value style of investing).
With 36 stocks and 89% active share, this is a concentrated fund that tends to most differently to the market, as a beta of 1.24% indicates. It also tends to be more volatile.
It was on a five-Crown streak between 2016 and 2021 and has only returned to the highest ranking in the latest rebalance of early 2026.
Thornburg Global Opportunities was second-best, with 50% of periods analysed spent as a five-Crown holder. This is also a concentrated portfolio (40 holdings) and is invested with a go-anywhere approach in small and large equities as well as debt instruments across the world.
It has had a five-Crown rating since June 2022.
Six funds qualify for third place, with 7 of the 20 periods (35%) spent as crown holders, as the table below suggests.
| Top funds maintaining a maximum Crown rating since 2016 | |
| Fund | Number of periods with 5 FE Crowns |
| MS INVF Global Opportunity | 12 of 20 |
| Thornburg Global Opportunities | 10 of 20 |
| Artisan Global Equity | 7 of 20 |
| GMO Quality Investment | 7 of 20 |
| Heptagon Kopernik Global All Cap Equity | 7 of 20 |
| MI Thornbridge Global Opportunities | 7 of 20 |
| Orbis SICAV International Equity Fund | 7 of 20 |
| Ranmore Global Equity plc | 7 of 20 |
| Artisan Global Value | 6 of 20 |
| Antipodes Global Value UCITS | 5 of 20 |
| Janus Henderson Horizon Global Smaller Companies | 5 of 20 |
| Heptagon WCM Global Equity | 4 of 20 |
| JPM Global Research Enhanced Index Equity Active UCITS ETF | 4 of 20 |
| MFS Meridian Contrarian Value | 4 of 20 |
The largest of the six, at $8.5bn, is GMO Quality Investment. Its Crown track record begins in 2022 but it still made the list because it’s been a consistent five-Crown holder since then.
It focuses on resilient companies, meaning that it carries large positions in technology, healthcare and the US, while avoiding Japan and only holding small positions in emerging markets.
FE Investments analysts rate the fund for the “strong experience and a solid track record” of the managing team (Tom Hancock, Anthony Hene and Ty Cobb) and the “detailed, company-by-company research”.
“The fund suits investors looking for a global, core holding built around careful stock selection rather than big market call,” they said.
Another standout name was Ranmore Global Equity, led by Alpha Manager Sean Peche, who looks for decent, undervalued businesses that he considers to have attractive return potential.
The fund is ‘Elite-rated’ by FundCalibre, with analysts at the firm describing it as “a true global value fund that has delivered in many different market environments”.
“It is significantly differentiated from the market and its peers and may be a useful diversifier in portfolios. Unlike other value strategies, momentum and technical factors are important parts of the investment process,” they said.
Heptagon and Artisan managed to rank two of their funds, the former Heptagon Kopernik Global All Cap Equity and Heptagon WCM Global Equity (whose Crown track record begins in 2020) and the latter Artisan Global Equity and Artisan Global Value.
Orbis SICAV International Equity also stood out for being a five-Crown holder since its record began in 2022.
Designed to be exposed to all of the risks and rewards of a portfolio of selected non-US equities, the strategy holds its main positions in developed markets, which make up 61% of the portfolio; of that, the largest position is the UK (17%), followed by Japan (12%), Europe (12%), and US (11%). Emerging markets make up 38%.
Further down the list, two strategies with partial Crown records that don’t stretch the whole decade still managed to spend a quarter of it with five Crowns: the $418m Antipodes Global Value fund and the $2.4bn Janus Henderson Horizon Global Smaller Companies.