Nedgroup Investments wins big at the Raging Bulls

The 20^th annual Raging Bull awards were held in Cape Town on Wednesday evening, and there was a distinct sense amongst many present that change is in the air. If the awards, which recognise South Africa’s top performing unit trusts, can be taken as a barometer of the state of the industry, then it’s fair to say that the asset management landscape is shifting.

Most notably, there was a new name on the award for South African asset manager of the year. For the first time, Nedgroup Investments took the evening’s top honour, edging Coronation into second place and Allan Gray into third.

When Allan Gray was named as the third best asset management company at the end of the evening, it was in fact the first time the firm’s name was mentioned. It did not win any category awards this year.

Coronation, which has dominated the Raging Bulls over the last half decade, was only on the podium twice. The Coronation Jibar Plus Fund won the award for top risk-adjusted performance by a South African interest-bearing short-term fund, and the Coronation Global Managed [ZAR] Feeder Fund was the best global multi-asset high equity fund on a risk adjusted basis.

In contrast, Nedgroup Investments won five category awards. Its Financials Fund, Global Cautious Feeder Fund, Stable Fund, Global Equity Fund and Global Flexible Fund were all top performers.

This suggests that while Allan Gray and Coronation continue to be recognised as top companies and the quality of their overall offering is still impressive, their dominance is no longer quite so pervasive as it once was. Smaller, more flexible managers are proving that they can turn their size into an advantage when it comes to finding market opportunities.

The significant thing is that Nedgroup Investments does not manage any money itself. It appoints top firms to manage specific mandates on its behalf. These include the likes of bigger players like Sanlam Investment Managers and Foord, but also boutiques like Abax, Truffle and Taquanta.

This model has now conclusively proved its worth, and perhaps Old Mutual, which is following a similar approach, although in-house, could be the next to move past the two industry giants. It won three category awards on the night.

It was also very noticeable how many boutique managers were named. Nearly half of all the awards for South African domiciled funds went to smaller firms.

The most successful was Autus, which was called up three times. It won the awards for the best outright performance over the last three years in the multi-asset flexible, multi-asset low equity and multi-asset high equity categories.

Rezco was recognised twice. The Rezco Value Trend Fund was the best multi-asset high equity fund on a risk-adjusted basis, and the Rezco Managed Plus Fund took the award for the best risk-adjusted performance by a multi-asset income fund.

Marriott also earned two awards – both for its global offerings – while other boutiques recognised as top performers were 27Four, Flagship, Bataleur, Platinum, Atlantic, Catalyst and Oasis Crescent.

Significantly, the two biggest awards made to equity funds on the evening both went to boutiques.

The Raging Bull Award for the best outright performance by a South African general equity fund over the last three years went to the 36ONE MET Equity Fund. And the Raging Bull for the best South African general equity fund on a risk-adjusted basis over the last three and five years went to the Mazi Capital Prime Equity Fund.

Both of these funds unquestionably deserve the recognition. They have performed consistently well in recent years and have left no doubt that top boutiques offer a compelling proposition to investors.

Full list of winners:

Awards for the top outright performers over a three-year period to the end of December 2015 with calculations by ProfileData: 

Best South African Equity Industrial Fund

SIM Industrial Fund

Best South African Equity Financial Fund

Nedgroup Investments Financials Fund

Best South African Equity Resources Fund

Investec Commodity Fund

Best South African Equity Smaller Companies Fund

SIM Small Cap Fund

Best South African Multi-Asset Flexible Fund

Autus BCI Opportunity Fund

Best South African Multi-Asset Low-Equity Fund

Autus BCI Stable Fund

Best South African Multi-Asset Medium-Equity Fund

Platinum MET Balanced Prudential Fund of Funds

Best South African Multi-Asset High-Equity Fund

Autus BCI Balanced Fund

Best South African Interest-Bearing Variable-Term Fund

Absa Multi-Managed Bond Fund

Best South African Interest-Bearing Short-Term Fund

Atlantic BCI Stable Income Fund

Best South African Multi-Asset Income Fund

Prescient Income Provider Fund

Best South African Real Estate Fund

Absa Property Equity Fund

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Multi-Asset Flexible Fund

Old Mutual International Growth Fund of Funds

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Multi-Asset Low-Equity Fund

Nedgroup Investments Global Cautious Feeder Fund

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Multi-Asset High-Equity Fund

Sanlam Global Balanced Fund of Funds

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Real Estate Fund

Catalyst Global Real Estate Prescient Feeder Fund

Best (SA-domiciled) Worldwide Multi-Asset Flexible Fund

Flagship IP Worldwide Flexible Fund of Funds

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Europe Equity General Fund

Templeton Euroland Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Usa Equity General Fund

Franklin US Opportunities Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Far East Equity General Fund

Ashburton Chindia Equity Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Real Estate General Fund

Sarasin IE Real Estate Equity – Global (GBP) Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Fixed-Interest Bond Fund

Sanlam Global Bond Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Asset Allocation Fund

Flagship International Flexible Fund

Awards for top risk-adjusted performance, taking both three and five year returns into account, according to PlexCrown ratings.

Best South African Multi-Asset Low-Equity Fund

Nedgroup Investments Stable Fund A

Best South African Multi-Asset Medium-Equity Fund

27four Balanced Prescient Fund of Funds A1

Best South African Multi-Asset High-Equity Fund

Rezco Value Trend Fund A

Best South African Interest-Bearing Variable-Term Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Absa Multi-Managed Bond Fund A

Best South African Interest-Bearing Short-Term Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Coronation Jibar Plus Fund A

Best South African Multi-Asset Income Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Rezco Managed Plus Fund A

Best South African Real Estate Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Absa Property Equity Fund A

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Equity General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Old Mutual Global General Equity Fund A

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Multi-Asset Low-Equity Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Sanlam Global Cautious Fund of Funds A

Best (SSA-domiciled) Global Multi-Asset High-Equity Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Coronation Global Managed [ZAR] Feeder Fund A

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Real Estate Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Oasis Crescent International Property Equity Feeder Fund D

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Multi-Asset Flexible Fund

Marriott International Growth Feeder Fund A

Best (SA-domiciled) Worldwide Multi-Asset Flexible Fund

Marriott Worldwide Flexible Fund of Funds A

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Europe Equity General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Templeton Euroland Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Usa Equity General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

STANLIB Offshore America Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Far East Equity General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Ashburton Chindia Equity Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Real Estate General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Catalyst Global Real Estate UCITS Fund A

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Fixed-Interest Bond Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

STANLIB Multi-Manager Global Bond Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Equity General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Nedgroup Investments Global Equity Fund

Raging Bull Awards for top outright performance over three years:

Best South African Equity General Fund

36ONE MET Equity Fund

Best South African Interest-Bearing Fund

Prescient Income Provider Fund

Best (SA-domiciled) Global Equity General Fund

Old Mutual Global Equity Fund

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Equity Fund

Investec GSF Global Strategic Equity Fund

Raging Bull Awards for top risk-adjusted performance, taking three and five year returns into account:

Best South African Equity General Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Mazi Capital Prime Equity Fund A1

Best South African Multi-Asset Equity Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Prescient Provider Income Fund A1

Best South African Multi-Asset Flexible Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

*Bateleur Flexible Prescient Fund A1

Best (FSB-approved) Offshore Global Asset Allocation Fund On A Risk-Adjusted Basis

Nedgroup Investments Global Flexible Fund

Industry awards:

South African Management Company Of The Year – Third Place

Allan Gray

South African Management Company Of The Year – Second Place

Coronation Fund Managers

South African Management Company Of The Year

Nedgroup Investments