Here are five promising newcomers that he thinks may be worth a punt.
Newton Emerging Income
Dampier highlights the Newton Emerging Income fund, which he has recently added to Hargreaves’ Wealth 150 list, as a good example.
"When I say track record, I mean manager record – I don’t understand why anyone looks at fund track records, because if a manager leaves, they mean nothing," he said.
"Recently we’ve added Jason Pidcock’s Newton Emerging Income fund. He’s already proven with the Asia fund that he can find solid companies in emerging markets with rising and sustainable dividends."
Dampier’s colleague Richard Troue added: "We have the Newton Asian Income fund on the [Wealth 150] list as well, but this one just gives investors a bit more choice, as it can also invest in South America, [emerging] Europe, etc."
"It’s an area I’d expect to be quite popular in the coming years, but Newton is one of the first to jump on board," he added.
Performance of manager vs peer group over 5-yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Pidcock, who also runs Newton Oriental and the FSA offshore-recognised BNY Mellon Asian Equity portfolio, has outperformed his peer group composite over three- and five-year periods, with less volatility.
The Newton Emerging Income fund, which is currently yielding 3.66 per cent, has returned 9.36 per cent since its launch in October last year, beating its IMA Global Emerging Markets sector average by around 3 percentage points.
It requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a total expense ratio (TER) of 1.66 per cent.
Schroder Global Alpha Plus
Although Schroder Global Alpha Plus has had a difficult time since it was launched in April 2010, Troue believes it could be a very good long-term holding.
"This fund was only launched a couple of years ago, but we picked it because we like the style of manager Virginie Maisonneuve so much," he said. "She has a lot of experience – not just in running retail portfolios – and we like how the fund is run."
"It’s a highly concentrated, high-conviction portfolio of only 40 stocks or so. She focuses on long-term growth themes, such as the energy super cycle and changes in demographics, and picks her stocks to fit in with these areas."
Performance of fund vs sector since launch
Source: FE Analytics
"So far it hasn’t performed too well, but it’s the kind of strategy you need to be very patient with. It’s very much a long-term play."
Schroder Global Alpha Plus requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a TER of 1.73 per cent.
Maisonneuve also runs the Schroder ISF Global Equity, ISF Global Equity Alpha and Institutional Global Equity funds. She has returned 20.58 per cent over the last five years, beating her peer group by almost 7 percentage points.
Standard Life Global Smaller Companies
Troue is also a big fan of FE Alpha Manager Harry Nimmo’s Standard Life Global Smaller Companies portfolio, which is still very much in its infancy.
He commented: "This is one that was launched last January, so it’s coming up to its one-year anniversary. Again, this is one we like because of the manager and the strategy."
"Nimmo has an excellent record in the UK and has built a brilliant model of picking stocks, which was then used for Standard Life’s European mandates when it reached capacity."
Performance of fund vs sector over 10-yrs
Source: FE Analytics
"Then, when that reached capacity, they decided to use it globally, which we thought signalled a good opportunity to add a Nimmo (pictured) fund to the Wealth 150 list."
"It’s done very well since launch." According to FE Analytics, Standard Life Global Smaller Companies is up 12.59 per cent since January last year, compared with 8.59 per cent from its IMA Global sector.
The £55.2m fund requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a TER of 1.81 per cent.
Marlborough Multi Cap Income
Launched in May 2011, this is another fund that made it straight on to the Wealth 150 list.
Small cap expert Giles Hargreave heads up the portfolio, which targets a combination of growth and income by investing across small, mid and large cap stocks.
The manager currently has only 5.4 per cent in large and mega caps – defined as larger than £5bn – with the rest split between small and mid caps.
Restaurant Group, Booker Group and WH Smith are all top-10 holdings.
The fund, which is currently yielding 4.42 per cent, has delivered 18.47 per cent since its launch in July 2011, more than doubling the returns of its FTSE All Share benchmark.
In spite of its small to mid cap bias, it has been less volatile than the All Share since launch, and has a lower max drawdown.
Marlborough Multi Cap Income requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a TER of 1.55 per cent.
CF Miton UK Multi Cap Income
This is very much in the same mould as Hargreave’s fund, in that it is one of the few small to mid cap focused portfolios in the UK Equity Income sector.
Both are very diversified, with no more than 20 per cent invested in the top-10 holdings. CF Miton UK Multi Cap Income is currently yielding more, and manager Gervais Williams has even less of a focus on large caps; according to our data, he has just 5 per cent invested in the FTSE 100, and 33.6 per cent in the FTSE AIM.
Quindrell Portfolio – a software, consulting and technology provider – is currently Williams’ largest holding.
CF Miton UK Multi Cap Income has returned 28.31 per cent since its launch in October 2011, beating the average UK Equity Income portfolio by nearly 10 percentage points. By point of reference, Marlborough Multi Cap Income has delivered 28.7 per cent over this period.
CF Miton UK Multi Cap Income requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a TER of 1.74 per cent. Assets under management currently stand at £41.9m.