However, there are fewer who would identify John McClure, Mark Martin, and Alex Wright, who have, incidentally, beaten their higher-profile rivals in recent years.
Here we profile five lesser-known managers who have also outperformed bigger names in their sector.
Paul Mumford
UK “special situations” or “recovery” funds are popular choices for long-term investors. The likes of Tom Dobell, who runs the £7.4bn M&G Recovery portfolio, and Fidelity Special Sits manager Sanjeev Shah are among the most popular.
However, there is one manager in the IMA UK All Companies sector that has shown up both of these household names over three, five and 10 years – Cavendish’s Paul Mumford.
Performance of funds vs sector over 10-yrs
| Name | 3yr returns (%) |
5yr returns (%) | 10yr returns (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cavendish - Opportunities | 70.41 | 77.07 | 254.61 |
| M&G - Recovery |
22.34 | 40.24 | 221.42 |
| Fidelity - Special Situations | 31.5 | 37.88 | 213.15 |
| IMA UK All Companies |
32.85 | 31.86 | 142.84 |
Source: FE Analytics
His Cavendish Opportunities fund – just £71m in size – is a top-decile perfomer in the sector over one, three, five and 10 years. Only two other UK growth portfolios have managed this feat. Mumford (pictured) is a bottom-up stockpicker through and through.
His remit is simple – he looks to deliver growth in the long-term, by investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks across the market cap spectrum.
He styles himself as a contra-cyclical investor – one who targets unloved, cheap stocks in the market that he believes are set for at least 50 per cent growth.
For this reason, the fund is significantly more volatile than its peer group and tends to underperform during market rallies. However, over the long-term Cavendish Opportunities has consistently outperformed.
Performance of fund vs sector over 20yrs
Source: FE Analytics
Mumford started running the portfolio in 1988, before IMA UK All Companies even existed. Over the last 20 years, the five crown-rated fund has delivered 779.93 per cent, easily doubling the returns of its sector.
Mumford is currently overweight consumer products and industrials. Among his largest holdings are mobile banking company Monitise and electronics firm CSR.
Cavendish Opportunities requires a minimum investment of £2,500 and has a total expense ratio (TER) of 1.58 per cent.
Timothy Youngman
Youngman is not a manager often lauded in the industry, but his CF Ruffer European fund is dominant in IMA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares.
It is number-one in its sector over 10 years, with returns of 321.26 per cent, and third over five years, with returns of 49.61 per cent.
Multi-billion pound portfolios such as John Chatfeild-Roberts’ Jupiter Merlin Balanced and Iain Stewart’s Newton Balanced funds both fall well short over both time periods.
While the fund is not as high up in the total return tables over one and three years, it still significantly outperformed its sector.
As well as topping the performance tables, Youngman’s portfolio has been one of the least volatile and it has the lowest max drawdown over 10 years by some distance – just 12.19 per cent, according to FE data.
Perhaps the reason for Youngman’s relative unknown status is down to the unusual set-up of the fund.
It is one of the only European-focused portfolios in the Mixed Investment sectors, and invests in equities and fixed interest.
This makes it difficult to compare with the likes of Jupiter European and BlackRock European Dynamic.
Youngman currently has 55 per cent in European equities, 24 per cent exclusively in UK equities, and 12 per cent in UK bonds. The rest is in cash and gold.
The £240m fund requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a TER of 1.56 per cent. Youngman has run it since January 2003.
Tim Wood
Some of the lesser-known boutique managers such as John McClure have started to make waves in the industry in recent years, but McInroy & Wood’s star manager Tim Wood remains an unknown entity to most.
His £37.5m McInory & Wood Smaller Companies fund is a top-decile performer in the increasingly popular IMA Global sector over three, five and 10 years, outshining higher-profile rivals such as M&G Global Basics, Invesco Perpetual Global Smaller Companies and Jupiter Global Managed.
Performance of funds vs sector over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
The fund has been more volatile than its sector over all three of these time periods, but has been less volatile than its Invesco Perpetual rival, which also has a small cap focus.
Wood’s five crown-rated portfolio is invested exclusively in developed markets, with its biggest weighting in the UK and continental Europe, which make up 36 and 30 per cent of AUM respectively.
The fund is available directly for a minimum investment of £10,000, or on the Transact and Nucleus platforms.
It has a TER of 1.61 per cent.
Toby Ricketts
Ricketts is another top-performing multi-asset fund manager with a stellar long-term track record.
He has headed up the £70m Margetts Venture Strategy portfolio since 1995, and led it to consistent outperformance, albeit with above-average volatility.
The fund of funds is a top-decile performer over five and 10 years and second-decile over one and three.
Margetts Venture Strategy is up 225.17 per cent over the last decade, almost exactly twice as much as its sector average.
Ricketts has a significant overweight in emerging markets – particularly Asia Pacific ex Japan, which makes up 34 per cent of AUM.
The fund currently holds some of the highest-profile names in its top-10, including Aberdeen Emerging Markets, Newton Asian Income and First State Asia Pacific Leaders.
As well as outperforming the vast majority of its fund of funds rivals, it is very cheap, with a TER of just 1.62 per cent. It is available for a minimum investment of £1,000.
Stephen Rodger
Richard Woolnough, Ian Spreadbury, and the Invesco Perpetual duo of Paul Causer and Paul Read dominate the inflows charts in the IMA fixed interest sectors.
However, there is one manager who has shown up all of these managers on a consistency basis – Stephen Rodger.
His Baillie Gifford Corporate Bond fund is a top-quartile performer in its IMA Corporate Bond sector over one, three, five and 10 years.
Although it has not delivered as much as the likes of Invesco Perpetual Monthly Income Plus over the last decade or M&G Optimal Income over five years, its three-year returns of 43.8 per cent are matched by none in the sector.
It is currently yielding 4.5 per cent, and has its biggest sector weightings in asset backed securities and insurance.
The five crown-rated fund has a TER of 1.04 per cent and requires a minimum investment of £1,000. It has £230m assets under management (AUM).