The manager, who heads up four Jupiter bond portfolios including the FE five-crown rated Jupiter Strategic Bond fund, has a Sharpe ratio of 1.59 over three years – 0.2 more than second placed Fidelity’s Alex Wright.
Performance of managers versus peer groups over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The Sharpe ratio is used to determine which funds had the best risk-adjusted performance over the set periods. The ratio measures a fund's return relative to a notional risk-free investment – in this case, cash. The difference in returns is then divided by the fund's volatility.
According to FE data, Bezalel has returned 201.82 per cent, outperforming his peer group composite by 12.25 per cent. Wright – who specialises in small and micro cap UK stocks – has returned significantly more, but his significantly higher volatility means that he falls behind Bezalel in the risk/return standings.
Bezalel has made quite the impression since taking charge of the Jupiter Strategic Bond portfolio just over four years ago, being made an FE Alpha Manager at the first time of asking. Since then, the fund has grown to over £1bn in size, thanks to its consistently strong performance compared to its peer group.
It’s returned 57.32 per cent since its launch in June 2008, a figure beaten only by L&G Dynamic Bond, and is also a top-decile performer over three years with returns of 44.17 per cent. The FE five-crown rated fund is currently yielding 5.3 per cent, which is above average for its sector. It has a total expense ratio (TER) of 1.51 per cent, and a minimum investment of £500.
The manager also co-manages the Jupiter High Income and Monthly Income portfolios, which both sit in the IMA UK Equity & Bond Income sectors. He began managing the fixed-interest portions of these portfolios back in March 2011. His remaining portfolio – Jupiter Dynamic Bond – is an FSA-offshore recognised vehicle which Bezalel has only managed for a couple of months.
Fidelity’s Wright is among the top performing managers in the entire IMA unit trust and OEIC universe over three years, with returns exceeding 100 per cent. He heads up the £52m Fidelity UK Smaller Companies fund, and was recently appointed manager of the Fidelity Special Values investment trust in place of Sanjeev Shah.
Top-10 newcomers over 3yrs
| Name | Sharpe ratio | Returns (%) | Volatility (%) |
| Ariel Bezalel | 1.59 | 39.89 | 5.21 |
| Alex Wright | 1.39 | 104.97 | 16.43 |
| Mark Martin | 1.22 | 87.74 | 15.56 |
| Millar Mathieson | 1.00 | 70.64 | 15.39 |
| Michael Ulrich | 0.85 | 73.40 | 18.59 |
| Stephen Moore | 0.72 | 42.35 | 12.44 |
| Michael Clark | 0.67 | 38.02 | 11.32 |
| Stuart Rhodes | 0.67 | 52.64 | 16.08 |
| Alex Grispos | 0.66 | 26.72 | 7.10 |
| Dr. Guy Morrell | 0.64 | 35.59 | 10.83 |
Source: FE Analytics
The rest of the top-10 is made up predominately of managers who focus on equities, with the exception of Dr. Guy Morrell, who manages the HSBC Open Global Property fund. While the volatility of Alex Grispos’ CF Ruffer Equity & General fund is bond-like, he has 73 per cent of his assets in equities.
In the UK sectors, mid cap managers Mark Martin and Michael Ulrich as well as Fidelity’s Michael Clark make an appearance. Clark is much in the same mould as defensive rivals Neil Woodford and Francis Brooke, though his Fidelity Moneybuilder Dividend and Enhanced Income portfolios have higher yields than their flagship funds [4.53 and 7.41 respectively].
Manager of the five-crown rated M&G Global Dividend fund Stuart Rhodes makes an inevitable appearance. His portfolio is one of the best sellers of recent years, attracting in excess of £3bn since its launch in July 2008.
Millar Mathieson, who heads up the First State Latin America fund, is the sole emerging market manager, while Threadneedle American Extended Alpha’s Stephen Moore also makes it onto the list.