2020 Alpha Manager Hall of Fame

Fund managers from some of the UK’s leading groups have been added to the coveted 2020 Alpha Manager Hall of Fame, an elite list of fund managers recognised by global fund data and technology provider, FE fundinfo. 

Anthony Smouha (GAM Fund Management Ltd), John Warren (Schroder Investment Management (EUR)S.A.), Douglas Brodie (Baillie Gifford & Co Ltd), Richard Hallett (Marlborough Fund Managers), Ben Wallace (Janus Henderson Global Investors Ltd), Leon Grenyer (Morgan Stanley Investment Management UK), Derek Stuart (Artemis Fund Managers Limited), Luke Newman (Janus Henderson Global Investors Ltd), Henry Dixon (GLG Partners) and Daniel Hanbury (River & Mercantile Asset Management) all joined the list this year, which recognises those managers who have been Alpha-rated consistently for the past seven years. 

To gain an Alpha rating, fund managers are judged according to their 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. 

Overall 58 fund managers made the list this year, 12 of which have maintained their position since 2015. These include Daniel Nickols from Merian Global Investors, Martin Lau from First State Investments and Mark Slater from Slater Investments. 

Charles Younes, Research Manager at FE fundinfo, said: 

“The Alpha Manager Hall of Fame is a fantastic opportunity to recognise those managers who have consistently outperformed their benchmarks throughout their careers. It is particularly impressive to see such a high diversity of investment styles among the managers who have joined the list this year. This shows that over a long time period, investment biases fade, and the technical proficiency of the fund managers becomes more apparent. It was interesting to note Douglas Brodie from Baillie Gifford for instance adopts a very different investment style from Henry Dixon at GLG, yet both have joined the list. Additionally – and despite being out of favour – it was pleasing to see absolute return managers such as Ben Wallace and Luke Newman both from Janus Henderson also be recognised.” 

At the other end of the scale, an unlucky 13 managers left the Hall of Fame this year. This follows inconsistent performance, retirement and a shrinking in portfolio size. Among those to lose their place was Neil Woodford, whose Woodford Equity Income fund was closed last year, following long periods of investor withdrawals and poor performance.  

Chares Younes added: 

“Apart from the obvious high-profile collapse of the Woodford funds, most of the other leavers are career, rather than performance-related. Both Steve Russell (Ruffer LLP) and Jenny Jones (Schroder) retired, while Alexander Darwall left Jupiter to start his own business. We fully expect him to regain his Alpha status, once he starts actively managing money again.” 

To celebrate the performance of the UK’s best fund managers, FE fundinfo will be hosting its annual Alpha Manager Awards at Banking Hall in the heart of the City of London on 7th May.  

For more information, please visit: www.alphamanagerawards.com   

Joining the 2020 FE fundinfo Hall of Fame: 

Leaving the 2020 FE fundinfo Hall of Fame: 

Ends 

Media contact: 

Eoghan Hughes 

PR Manager 

020 7534 7639 

[email protected]  

Notes to editors: 

FE fundinfo is a global fund data and technology leader. We facilitate better, more efficient investing by connecting fund managers and fund distributors and enabling them to share and act on trusted, insightful information. We provide the data, tools, infrastructure and the expertise required to research, distribute, market and invest in funds and model portfolios.  

We maximise efficiencies for fund managers and fund distributors through our unique fundinfo.cloud market place, one of the world’s largest information marketplaces for local and international investment funds and support market participants at every stage of the investment lifecycle.  

With roots stretching back to 1996, FE fundinfo was created in 2018 following a merger between investment data, research and software provider FE, fundinfo, a provider of services for asset managers and distributors in Europe and Asia and F2C, the Luxembourg-based data management firm, which operates the publiFund platform. 

For more information, please visit: www.fe-fundinfo.com