Invesco’s Mark Barnett, Liontrust’s Anthony Cross and Neptune’s Mark Martin are among 13 new entrants to the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame this year, the investment research and data provider has announced.
FE also revealed that more than 40 per cent of the managers in the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame for a fourth consecutive year.
The FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame consists of a group of managers who have retained their FE Alpha Manager-status for the last seven years.
To qualify as an FE Alpha Manager, FE analysts judge managers’ track records since 2000 with extra weighting for those with the longest track-records to highlight the benefits of experience.
The rating is based on three components: risk-adjusted alpha; consistency of outperformance versus their benchmark; and outperformance in both up and down markets.
New additions to this year’s edition of the Hall of Fame also included Royal London’s Mike Fox, Teera Changponsang of Fidelity, Jupiter’s Ariel Bezalel and Paul Marriage of Tellworth. A full list can be found below.
Source: FE
With the new additions to the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame the total number of managers rose to 50.
Charles Younes (pictured), research manager at FE, said: “Seven years of delivering risk-adjusted alpha and consistent outperformance is a big ask, especially during prolonged periods of uncertainty and market volatility.
“It’s therefore very encouraging to see so many managers retaining their spot or joining this elite group for the first time.”
He added: “Investors can be confident that the performance of managers in the FE Hall of Fame is down to genuine skill and conviction, rather than luck.”
As well as a number of new additions to the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame a number of managers have also reached the milestone of inclusion for four consecutive years since it was launched in 2015.
Indeed, 20 FE Alpha Managers – or more than 40 per cent of the total – have now reached four consecutive years in the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame.
A number of high-profile names have reached four years of inclusion in the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame, including Neil Woodford, M&G’s Richard Woolnough and Fidelity’s Leigh Himsworth, as the below table shows.
Source: FE
Below, FE Trustnet highlights several of the best performing long-term managers in the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame and the best of the new intake.
Harry Nimmo
Aberdeen Standard’s Harry Nimmo (pictured) needs little introduction as the one of the best UK smaller companies managers in the asset management industry. 
Nimmo has overseen the £1.5bn, four FE Crown-rated Standard Life Investments UK Smaller Companies fund since 1997.
Over the past 10 years the fund has delivered a total return of 264.2 per cent compared with a 194.93 per cent for the average IA UK Smaller Companies peer.
He has also overseen the closed-end Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust since 2003, which has delivered a 410.58 per cent gain over the past decade.
Gordon Grender
Another consecutive Hall of Famer, this time from the US equities space, is Gordon Grender of GAM. The veteran manager has overseen the £200m GAM North American Growth fund since 1985.
Over the past 10 years the fund has generated a total return of 249.85 per cent compared with a gain of 222.02 per cent for the S&P 500 – in sterling terms – and a 183.47 per cent return for the average IA North America sector fund.
The fund invests in a concentrated portfolio of North American equities based on intensive, bottom-up company research.
“The economy is growing, albeit slowly, but equity valuations rely on subdued interest rates to be considered attractive,” the manager noted recently. “As such, the concept of fundamentally based investing, rather than simply ‘buying the market’, is likely to gain increasing emphasis.”
Teera Chanpongsang
One of the new entrants to the FE Alpha Manager Hall of Fame is Fidelity’s Teera Chanpongsang, who manages the five FE Crown-rated Fidelity Emerging Asia fund.
Chanpongsang took over the $1.2bn fund 10 years ago, during which time it has generated a total return of 90.64 per cent, compared with a 60.97 per cent gain for the MSCI Emerging Markets Asia index benchmark and a 58.19 per cent return for the average IA Asia Pacific Excluding Japan peer.
Performance of fund vs sector & benchmark over 10yrs
Source: FE Analytics
“Chanpongsang began his career in accounting and is keen to look at companies from a financial and corporate governance perspective,” noted FE Invest analysts. “He also pays strong attention to meeting the management and digging out information for better investment decision-making.”
The manager has also overseen the five FE Crown-rated Fidelity Asia fund since January 2014 delivering a 89.81 per cent total return during that period, compared with a 68.47 per cent for the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan benchmark and a 59.8 per cent for the average sector fund.
Anthony Cross
Another new inductee to the Hall of Fame is Anthony Cross, who joins co-manager Julian Fosh on the list. Cross and Fosh manage the top performing Liontrust Special Situations fund, as well as several other strategies.
Cross has been a manager on the five FE crown-rated fund since launch in 2005. Over the past 10 years, the £3.3bn, five FE Crown-rated fund has generated a total return of 280.22 per cent, compared with a gain of 90.52 per cent for the FTSE All Share benchmark and a 93.96 per cent return for the average IA UK All Companies fund.
The Liontrust Special Situations fund uses the Liontrust Economic Advantage process, which looks for companies with one key advantage: intellectual property, strong distribution or recurring business.
As part of the team – along with Fosh, Victoria Stevens and Matt Tonge – Cross measure companies for the market’s appreciation of potential earnings growth, which should translate into the potential for share price growth. The team also look for companies where management and employees also hold have equity within the company.
The Hall of Fame will be displayed at the FE Alpha Manager Awards ceremony to be held at the Museum of London on 17 May 2018.