The figures for each discrete period were reached by adding together the returns of each fund the provider manages and then dividing these by the number of funds.
According to Financial Express data, M&G returned an average of 53.14 per cent per fund compared with 46.47 per cent for the average global equity fund.
Over one year the asset management house returned 19.6 per cent per fund compared with 16.36 per cent from the average fund in the asset class.
Over three years, Schroder Asset Management was the standout performer, with average returns of 17.82 per cent per fund. The provider was narrowly ahead of Aberdeen, which returned 17.35 per cent over the period. The average fund in the global equity space returned 10.7 per cent.
Performance of managers' average funds over 5-yrs
| Manager | Total AUM (£m) | Average 1-yr returns (%) |
Average 3-yr returns (%) | Average 5-yr returns (%) |
| M&G | 8683.5 | 19.6 | 16.86 | 53.14 |
| Aberdeen | 3830.5 | 17.98 | 17.35 | 51.68 |
| Newton | 4760.8 | 16.94 | 11.03 | 44.68 |
| Schroder | 3794.6 | 12.81 | 17.82 | 41.53 |
| Fidelity | 5398 | 18.37 | 13.73 | 40.79 |
Source: Financial Express Analytics
M&G Global Basics has been one of the main drivers of M&G’s performance. Managed by Trustnet Alpha Manager Graham French, the fund invests mainly in companies operating in primary and secondary industries and companies that service those basic industries.
According to Financial Express data, the fund has returned 76.3 per cent over the last five years, well above the global equity average.
"M&G Global Basics has benefitted from the commodities boom as it has direct exposure to that area," explained Ben Willis, independent financial adviser at Whitechurch.
"French balances that by being an emerging market bull. Growing consumption in the developing economies is driving performance."
"Even if you are more bearish on the commodities story then it is still good to hold funds with some exposure in that area for diversification."
"M&G Global Basics is definitely a fund I can recommend."
The best-performing Schroder Asset Management fund is Schroder Global Emerging Markets, which aims to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in equities of emerging market companies.
The portfolio may also invest in shares in investment trusts and other closed-ended funds that are themselves dedicated to investment in emerging markets. Robert Davy and Allan Conway co-manage the fund.
Data from Financial Express shows that over the last five years the fund has returned an impressive 95.8 per cent.
While the performance has historically been robust, Kerry Nelson, managing director at IFA Nexus, says that recent returns have not been as impressive.
"The manager has backed Asia, South Korea and the banking sector and, while performance has been decent in the past, it has been lagging recently," she said.
"It is not a bad fund to have as a core holding if you want some stability, but for me the Aberdeen team is the standout performer."
Nelson says that emerging market specialists are impossible to ignore because they have performed so well.
"It is difficult to pick between Aberdeen Emerging Markets and First State Global Emerging Market Leaders."
"They are very impressive teams and the houses have really hung their hat on being a specialist in emerging markets. The performance is a reflection of that specialism."
According to Financial Express data, Aberdeen Emerging Markets has returned 122 per cent over the last five years while the First State fund has returned 116 per cent.