Fund managers with long records of outperformance often attract attention from investors looking for evidence that they can navigate different market environments.
While past performance is never a guarantee of future returns, investors look to identify outstanding managers by using ratings such as FE fundinfo’s Alpha Manager list.
The designation is awarded to the top 10% of UK retail-facing fund managers based on their entire career performance, centring around three main factors: risk-adjusted alpha, consistency of outperformance versus the benchmark and performance in both rising and falling markets.
Below, Trustnet screened for Alpha Manager-led funds that also hold the highest FE fundinfo Crown rating of five (representing the top 10% of funds for alpha, volatility and consistency over the past three years) and have achieved a first-quartile 10-year performance against their Investment Association (IA) sectors (measure to the end of October 2026) at the same time.
This revealed the IA Global four funds that scored full marks in all metrics, as shown in the table below.
Source: FE Analytics
Among the funds in the table is the £1.6bn Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity fund, which gained 227.9% over the 10-year period.
The fund is managed by Raheel Altaf, who has overseen the strategy since 2022. He has also managed Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity since its launch in 2015 and more recently took on responsibility for Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies in October 2025.
Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity seeks long-term capital growth by investing in attractively valued companies globally which Altaf believes have the potential to grow.
It utilises the firm’s proprietary quantitative analysis tool – SmartGARP – as the basis for its investment process, screening the financial characteristics of companies to identify those growing faster than the market and trading on lower valuations.
RSMR analysts said its factor blend and contrarian characteristics make it “a useful diversifier alongside growth-led or US-heavy portfolios, helping to reduce concentration risk across regions and styles”.
Also adopting a more contrarian approach and featuring in the table is Ranmore Global Equity, which gained 215.4% over the 10 years and has $3.1bn in assets.
The fund has been managed by Alpha Manager Sean Peche since its launch in 2008, targeting capital growth over a medium- to long-term horizon in excess of the MSCI World index.
The Ranmore strategy targets companies with above-average returns on assets, a history of generating free cashflow, strong balance sheets and forecast earnings growth over the long-term.
However, Peche will only invest in companies with attractive valuations. He previously argued that it is impossible to fully forecast what lies ahead and that investors overpaying for stocks will suffer significant losses when expectations are not met.
The fund is ‘Elite’ rated by FundCalibre, with analysts noting it “stands out like a shining star”, as it is “a true global value fund that has delivered in many different market environments”.
In September, Trustnet research highlighted the fund as one with a low correlation to the AI theme. The fund can also be considered more defensive as it has historically made a small gain when the market has fallen.
The remaining two funds in the table use systematic investment processes as the basis for stock selection.
Invesco Global Ex UK Core Equity Index (UK) delivered the highest 10-year return of the four funds, gaining 242.8%. It also ranks among the top 10 IA Global funds over this period.
The £127m fund is co-managed by Alpha Manager Georg Elsäesser and Michael Rosentritt and its systematic factor-based investment process is driven by momentum, quality and value, while relative risk is managed with an optimiser tool that recommends trades to maximise portfolio exposure to selected stocks within predetermined risk and return parameters.
Six of the Magnificent Seven feature among its top 10 holdings, with Nvidia its largest position at 5.2%. However, despite this high exposure to big tech, the fund is underweight the information technology sector relative to the MSCI World ex UK index, with allocations of 28.8% versus 32.9% respectively.
The other systematic strategy in the table is the £268.5m Allianz Best Styles Global AC Equity fund, which logged a 218.5% 10-year return and has been managed by Alpha Manager Erik Mulder since 2017. Andreas Domke joined as deputy manager in 2022.
Mulder also manages Allianz Best Styles Pacific Equity and Allianz Stable Growth Europe Equity.
Allianz Best Styles Global AC Equity is a multi-factor approach incorporating value, momentum, revisions, growth and quality. It targets outperformance of between 100 and 200 basis points per year over rolling three-year periods, with a tracking error of between 1% and 3% against its benchmark index.
Performance of the funds vs sector over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Turning to the IA Global Equity Income sector and only one fund met all three criteria: Artemis Global Income.
Alpha Manager James Davidson has co-managed the strategy since 2020 alongside Jacob de Tusch-Lec, who has run the fund since 2010.
The £6.4bn strategy logged a 244% over the 10 years – ahead of the aforementioned IA Global funds.
This 10-year return also places Artemis Global Income at the top of the IA Global Equity Income sector over the selected period, with around 30 percentage points between it and second place.
The all-cap fund aims to deliver a rising income combined with capital growth while providing a yield greater than the MSCI AC World index, while also targeting around 5% growth in the dividend per annum.
Titan Square Mile analysts said: “This strategy differentiates itself versus many peers by steering away from the more traditional income stalwarts.
“It ultimately looks to provide a blend of companies with different characteristics whose fortunes do not rise and fall together, as may be the case with a portfolio made up of purely high yielding blue chip names.”
As such, top holdings include Samsung Life Insurance, Hanwha Aerospace and Japan Post Holdings.
Performance of the fund vs sector over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics