Schroders Investment Management named top fund manager for the second year in a row

Securing the top spot for the second year in a row, Schroders Investment Management has been crowned the 2010 Money Management/Lonsec Fund Manager of the Year.

Hailed by Lonsec as a “quality investment house offering investors superior product across a number of asset classes”, it is Schroders’ underlying sector capabilities across the board that make it stand out from the crowd.

“The manager has a strong risk management focus and advanced portfolio construction techniques, and its sector capabilities are rated highly, with the highest possible ratings achieved in Australian Equities and Fixed Income.

Schroders’ diversified funds have outperformed peers and [the] benchmark over all time periods, with value added across all stages of the investment process (asset allocation and stock selection),” Lonsec said.

The breadth of Schroders’ achievement can be seen in the fact that in addition to its overall Fund Manager of the Year win, it took out the Global Equities (Broad Cap) category and was also a finalist in Fixed Interest (Diversified).

Schroders’ chief executive, Greg Cooper, remains modest about the firm’s achievements but says its multi-disciplined investment approach is the key to its performance over the last year.

“The past two to three years have been an interesting time, and we have retained a disciplined approach to investment. One of the advantages we have is that we can draw on the broad spectrum of experience in our dedicated teams whether it is Australian Equities, Global Equities or Fixed Interest.

Having a broader perspective is very important, and will continue to be going forward. The idea that it is still possible to look at all these areas in isolation when it’s a global market is unfounded. Those days are gone,” he says.

Lonsec applauded Schroders’ long-term investment philosophy for its consistency, along with the working relationship of its team members. Its key fund decision makers were also experienced and highly regarded by Lonsec.

Cooper said it was difficult to single out any individual or pinpoint any aspect of the fund manager’s strategy as the reason for its success. “It is really hard to pick out one person or one thing when it has been a multi-disciplined approach. It is the long-term view across all sectors that matters.

That said, we have clearly performed extremely well in the global equities space, which is up 15 per cent,” he said.

Runner up to Schroders Investment Management was Goldman Sachs JBWere Asset Management. Phil Gardner, head of distribution at the firm, said its position as a finalist was based on good performance for clients and its suite of products.

He said: “Our focus is essentially based on two key things: good performance for our clients, and a broad range of products across a number of asset classes.”

Gardner adds that the last two to three years in the market have reaffirmed the importance of liquidity.

“The past few years have been difficult and have reinforced the importance of liquidity in portfolios, the need for good quality and a thoughtful approach to portfolio construction.

"Principally, our business objectives are to use the quality of our team and products to deliver performance and focus on client outcomes,” he said.