Allan Gray remains foremost asset manager

Allan Gray continued to hold its status as top retail asset manager. So reports Ryk de Klerk, founder and director of PlexCrown Fund Ratings, the methodology used to determine the winners of the annual Raging Bull Awards for the unit trust industry.

In the latest PlexCrown Survey of unit trusts and their managers, Allan Gray achieved a rating of 4.625 PlexCrowns (see Table 1) out of a maximum of five, with three out of six of its qualifying funds holding top spots in their respective subcategories. “However, Allan Gray’s rating has slipped slightly from 4.750 in March,” says De Klerk.

The company’s top spot in Overall Domestic with a total domestic rating of 4.500 PlexCrowns was achieved by sharing first place in Domestic Fixed Interest with the Allan Gray Bond Fund (see Table 2), which took the lead in the bond subcategory.

“Allan Gray faltered somewhat in Domestic Asset Allocation with a joint fourth position, although the ratings of the Allan Gray Stable Fund and Allan Gray Balanced Fund remained firm,” says De Klerk. In Domestic Equity, the Allan Gray Equity Fund’s rating dropped a notch to 4 PlexCrowns.

Its top spot in Overall Foreign was secured by a top total foreign rating of 5.000, with the Allan Gray-Orbis Global Equity Feeder Fund and Allan Gray-Orbis Global Fund of Funds setting the pace.

Prudential retained its runner-up position ahead of Nedgroup Investments. Its rating improved further to 4.042 PlexCrowns from 3.917 in March, with two of its qualifying seven funds leading in their respective subcategories.

Prudential took third position in Overall Domestic with a total domestic rating of 3.889 as the company excelled with the Prudential Enhanced SA Property Tracker Fund taking the lead in Domestic Real Estate and joint fourth place in Domestic Equity.

“Prudential’s average rating in Domestic Fixed Interest continued to dilute the company’s Overall Domestic rating,” says De Klerk.

Prudential was runner-up in Overall Foreign with a total foreign rating of 4.500 PlexCrowns, with the Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund of Funds taking the lead in Foreign Fixed Interest Bonds.

Nedgroup Investments’ third place overall of 3.750 PlexCrowns was also an improvement on the previous quarter’s 3.656.

The company was runner-up to Allan Gray with a total domestic rating of 3.917 PlexCrowns. It shared the top spot in Domestic Fixed Interest, and was in a slightly weaker ninth position in Domestic Equity, with the Nedgroup Investments Financials Fund and Nedgroup Investments Value Fund leading in their respective subcategories.

“The investment house’s overall rating was watered down by a weak foreign rating,” says De Klerk.

According to De Klerk, other points of interest include the remarkable debut of the Aylett Equity Fund in the PlexCrown Survey, which achieved top spot in Domestic Equity General with its first rating.

“Also, the ratings of Coronation and STANLIB continue to improve. The former was a short way behind Nedgroup Investments (see Table 3), while STANLIB’s rating entered an upward curve in June last year,” he points out.

The PlexCrown methodology entails the analysis of fund returns over three and five years per Association of Savings & Investment South Africa (ASISA) subcategory, based on up to five statistical measures encompassing returns per unit of risk and manager skill.

Table 1: Management company ratings on 30 June 2011

Table 2: Leading funds per unit trust category on 30 June 2011

Table 3: Management company rating changes on 30 June 2011