Published : 8 years ago, on 25/08/2016

TD Direct Investing’s Top 25 Best of British Fund Managers outperform the FTSE All-Share and give investors confidence in low interest rate environment

Today, TD Direct Investing launches its annual top 25 Best of British Fund Managers* list, revealing that UK active fund managers can beat the market – achieving an overall average return of 7.9% pa vs 5.8% pa of the FTSE All Share over 10 years. The news is proof that active management is very much alive in the UK and that Britain remains a good place to invest despite the recent Brexit shock.

The top-performing fund manager, Mark Slater, of MFM Slater Growth, delivered an annualised return of 12.2% over the 10 year period, outperforming his Investment Association (IA) sector average by 7.1%.  Neil Woodford is in fifth place which is an improvement on 2015 when he was featured in ninth place. Woodford’s performance over the last 10 years has been surpassed by other managers such as Michael Lindsell and Nick Train, who run CF Lindsell Train UK Equity, and Anthony Cross & Julian Fosh, managers of Liontrust UK Smaller Companies.

Michelle McGrade, Chief Investment Officer at TD Direct Investing, commented: “This list of the top 25 Best of British Fund Managers should give a welcome boost to UK investors.  It highlights that there is a wide array of investment talent in Britain, with managers successfully navigating through economic cycles by investing in UK companies that outperform over the long term.

“The Best of British list should help those feeling less confident about where to put their money. These managers are dedicated to delivering returns for their investors and are passionate about achieving long term outperformance – showing active management continues to have an essential role to play.”

The list contains industry veterans with different styles and approaches who have demonstrated the ability to consistently outperform through different market cycles. This is done via their discipline and focus and demonstrates that, over the long term, quality comes to the fore.

The Best of British research also highlighted the fact that successful equity income managers invest across the market cap range, with a focus on long-term dividend growth. Small and mid-cap managers, meanwhile, have exploited the inefficiencies in those parts of the equities market, which tend to be under-researched and underinvested, in order to produce superior returns relative to the market. Sustainable/ethical managers are also increasingly in competition with mainstream equity funds in the UK in terms of performance. There are three sustainable funds on the list this year.