Small-cap funds and two income specialists are turning things around in 2026 having suffered a difficult past decade, a Trustnet study shows.
This series looks at the funds that have risen to the top quartile of their sector in 2026 but still languish in the bottom 25% of the peer group over the decade.
Looking at those with a worldwide remit, two funds fit this criteria from the IA Global Equity Income sector. UBS Enhanced Global Equity Income was among the funds to have paid the most out in dividends over the past decade. With total dividends of £5,585.90, it actually topped the list.
Managers Grzegorz Ledwon and Jie Song aim to generate at least 110% of the income from the MSCI AC World index over 12 months by investing in dividend-paying companies and through call options.
However, it did not appear on the ultimate guide to global equity income funds produced by Trustnet earlier this year - which looked for funds combining high and growing dividends each year with strong total returns - as its returns were not strong enough.
Total returns have turned around so far in 2026, however, with UBS Enhanced Global Equity Income up 21.3%, the second-best gain of any fund in the list below
Source: FE Analytics
The other from the IA Global Equity Income sector is the £741m Janus Henderson Global Equity Income fund, managed by Andrew Jones, Ben Lofthouse and Faizan Baig. It is also the fund with the most in assets under management.
Recommended by analysts at Barclays, they said the fund has a strong and established team, with the managers supported by "one of the largest teams of analysts in the global equity income sector".
The managers can utilise the research and insight from the other fund managers and analysts across the firm as well, which helps them identify the best investment opportunities across multiple geographical regions.
"We believe these resources and experience of the team are the main reasons why this fund has performed strongly when compared to other global equity income funds," Barclays analysts said.
Turning to the broader IA Global peer group, seven names appeared on the list above. The top performer has been the £539m Schroder ISF Global Energy fund, which has made 28.1% so far in 2026.
The fund is managed by Mark Lacey and Alex Monk, who invest in exploration and production companies in the traditional oil and gas sectors, but can also branch out to companies involved in infrastructure, utilities, renewable and alternative energy.
It has been boosted by a resurgent oil price. A barrel of Brent crude started the year at just above $60 but rose sharply at the outbreak of the US-Iran war, which resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil supply passes through.
Although the oil price has since come down, oil companies have continued to do well. This partly reflects that the price remains above $85 at present (higher than the start of the year) but also that the war has placed greater scrutiny on energy security.
The Schroder fund was joined by State Street SPDR MSCI World Energy UCITS ETF in the list above, a passive option that has also benefited from rising oil and gas prices.
Energy was not the only theme, however. Smaller companies have also started to outperform in earnest for the first time in almost a decade, with Allianz Global Small Cap Equity and Schroder ISF Global Smaller Companies making the list above.
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery, managed by Douglas Brodie, Svetlana Viteva and FE fundinfo Alpha Manager John MacDougall, is also a small-cap specialist.
The £352m fund, managed by the same team that heads the Edinburgh Worldwide investment trust, aims to beat the S&P Global Small Cap index over rolling five-year periods.
Nish Patel, manager of The Global Smaller Companies Trust, recently noted that over the past five months, small-caps have outperformed larger companies by around 6 percentage points and the Magnificent Seven by around 12 percentage points.
"We believe this could mark the beginning of a new cycle for the asset class," he said.
This is part of an ongoing series. Previously we have looked at the UK and Asia as well as the four main mixed asset sectors.