Våre analytikere på tvers av Europa har slått seg sammen for å identifisere de forvalterne som de tror er blant de beste til hva de gjør. Nominerte forvaltere burde ha et sterkt 2012, men viktigere enn det, så burde de ha vist en evne til å tjene investorer på lengre sikt. Bare forvaltere som styrer fond som er Morningstar Medaljører - det vil si at de har gjort seg fortjent til Gold, Silver, eller Bronze rating fra våre analytikere – er kvalifisert til å være med. For å bli Morningstar Medaljør, blir fondet gjennomgått på en svært grundig måte ved å benytte vår «Fem Pillarer» metode. I tillegg til avkastning, leter vi etter kvaliteter hos forvalterne, styrkene til prosessen benyttet til å drifte fondet, kvaliteten til forvaltningsselskapet (inkludert hvordan de behandler investorer) og kostnader.
For de siste tre årene har vi kun gitt ut to av disse prestisjefylte prisene i Europa: Fund Manager of the Year: European Equity, Fund Manager of the Year: Global Equity. I år introduserer vi også Fund Manager of the Year: Euro Fixed-Income award.
Forvalterne er nominert av Morningstars europeiske analytikere for hver av prisene som følger. Vinnerne blir annonsert på Morningstar Investment Conference, Europe i Wien 14. mars 2013.
Fund Manager of the Year: Euro Fixed-Income
Manager name: Andrew Balls
Nominated for work on: PIMCO GIS Euro Bond (Morningstar Analyst Rating: Silver)
Andrew Balls has only held the reins at PIMCO GIS Euro Bond since February 2009, but he has been with PIMCO since 2006, is a member of the Investment Committee that helps set the tone for all PIMCO funds, and heads up the fixed-income giant’s European portfolio management. The style here is classic PIMCO, taking longer-term bets based on a 3-5 years macro outlook, backed by bottom-up research for issue selection. The portfolio is constructed in line with PIMCO’s index-aware stance but as with all the group’s portfolios, Balls has the flexibility to implement the group’s broader top-down views. For example, the strategically positive outlook on emerging markets over recent years has been held in the fund in judicious size. Similarly, he was able to hold a meaningful overweight in corporate bonds, including bank bonds, post-2008.
Performance under Balls has been exemplary as the fund has benefited from the medium-term preferences for EMD and corporate bonds. That said, the fund should not be seen a simple pro-credit proposition; for example, in 2012, the team was de-risking until the August ECB announcement on the view that valuations were progressively less attractive when placed in the context of the ongoing potential for volatility in a low-growth world. The fund has outperformed its peers in every calendar year from 2009 forward. Over Balls’ tenure the fund’s retail E class has returned 8.21% per annum, easily eclipsing the 4.93% return of its Citi EuroBig EUR benchmark and the 5.21% return of its average peer in the Morningstar EUR Diversified Bond category. In 2012, the fund rose 13.86%, vs. 10.74% for the benchmark and 9.45% for the category average, owing largely to its financials exposure.
Manager names: Paul Causer & Paul Read
Nominated for work on: Invesco Euro Corporate Bond (Morningstar Analyst Rating: Silver)
Paul Causer and Paul Read bring exceptional experience and continuity to the management of this fund. The two co-heads of fixed income have managed funds together at Invesco Perpetual since 1995 and have over 25 years of experience each in bond markets. They have managed this Euro Corporate fund since launch in March 2006, and deploy the same flexible, macro-oriented process here that has led them to such success at their other mandates. They will express a high conviction view when they see value; for example, in 2011 they underperformed the category as they had a significant weighting in financials, given the additional yield available on many instruments.
That kind of flexibility can be risky in the wrong hands, but Causer and Read have shown an ability to use it to investors’ advantage in different market environments. Since inception to the end of June 2012, the fund is ahead of the category average by 3.23 percentage points per annum--an exceptionally wide margin. In 2012, they guided the fund to a return of 20.34%, placing in the EUR Corporate Bond category’s top decile after benefiting from a rally in many of the financials issues that had held the fund back in 2011.
Manager names: Tanguy Le Saout & Cosimo Marasciulo
Nominated for work on: Pioneer Funds Euro Aggregate Bond (Morningstar Analyst Rating: Silver)
Pioneer Funds Euro Bond (Morningstar Analyst Rating: Bronze)
Tanguy Le Saout heads up Pioneer’s European fixed-income team and we view him as largely responsible for its development and success. In particular, he put into place a risk-budgeting approach where analysts and strategists have the flexibility to implement bets, but within precise guidelines. Le Saout has worked alongside comanager Cosimo Marusciulo for more than 12 years. The pair take an essentially top-down approach and begins by initially defining (as relevant for the mandate) the bond sector allocation, particularly between government and corporate bonds, country allocation, and duration positioning. Although they must adhere to their overall risk budget, the team is willing to take off-benchmark bets. For example, the team can take a degree of currency exposure as well as non-euro interest risk. More recently, starting from the last quarter of 2011 and in 2012 until October, the team was overweight periphery countries.
Le Saout and Marasciulo have shown a marked ability to make such bets pay over time. From March 2008, the first full month of its inception, through the end of 2012, Pioneer Euro Aggregate Bond returned 6.82% annualised, beating its average EUR Diversified Bond peer by 2.91 percentage points per annum and its benchmark Barclays Euro Aggregate Bond by 1.27 percentage points per annum. In 2012, although in-line with its benchmark, the fund delivered a top-third return versus its category peers. Although Pioneer Euro Bond, like most government funds, is slightly behind its JPM EMU benchmark, from the first full month of Le Saout’s tenure in March 2004 through the end of 2012it has strongly outperformed its EUR Government Bond category peers, returning 4.26 percentage points per annum, compared to 3.52% for the category average.
