Allan Gray tops, Coronation threatens

Allan Gray continues to reign as top retail asset manager, says Ryk de Klerk, founder and executive director of PlexCrown Fund Ratings, which is used as the basis to determine the annual Raging Bull Awards for the unit trust industry.

In the latest quarterly PlexCrown Survey of funds and unit trust managers, Allan Gray achieved a rating of 4.750 PlexCrowns (see Table 1) out of a maximum of 5, with five out of six of its qualifying funds holding top spots in their respective subcategories. “Allan Gray’s rating has improved after slipping slightly to 4.625 in June,” says De Klerk.

The company’s top spot in Overall Domestic improved to a total domestic rating of 4.667 PlexCrowns. This was achieved by sharing first place in Domestic Fixed Interest, with the Allan Gray Bond Fund (see Table 2) taking the lead in the Bond subcategory.

“The company regained composure in Domestic Asset Allocation, improving from joint fourth position to share the honours as the Allan Gray Stable Fund again moved into top slot in the Domestic Asset Allocation Prudential Low Equity subcategory,” says De Klerk.

In Domestic Equity, the rating of the Allan Gray Equity Fund, the only fund in the company’s fold without a top rating, remained unchanged at 4 PlexCrowns.

Its top spot in Overall Foreign continues to be secured by a top Total Foreign rating of 5, with the Allan Gray-Orbis Global Equity Feeder Fund and Allan Gray-Orbis Global Fund of Funds setting the pace in their respective subcategories.

The tables were turned in the September quarter in terms of the runner-up position. With only a meagre 0.166 PlexCrowns separating the next three investment houses, Coronation moved from fourth spot to runner-up ahead of Nedgroup Investments and Prudential.

Coronation achieved an overall rating of 3.708 PlexCrowns, up from 3.625 in the June quarter. Despite a slight weakening in the rating, Coronation ranked third in Overall Domestic with a Total Domestic rating of 3.778.

The domestic rating was underscored by a shared third position in Domestic Real Estate, a joint sixth spot in Domestic Equity and a seventh spot in Domestic Asset Allocation. It also shared eighth position in Domestic Fixed Interest.

An improvement in foreign rating from 3.000 in the previous quarter to its current 3.500 lifted Coronation from a joint seventh to joint fourth in Overall Foreign. The company’s improved rating in Foreign Equity from 3.000 to 4.000 PlexCrowns boosted its rankings in Foreign Equity from shared sixth to third position.

Nedgroup Investments maintained its third place overall with 3.688 PlexCrowns, slightly lower than that in the June quarter. It was secured by a very strong showing on the domestic front where it was runner-up to Allan Gray with a Total Domestic rating of 3.883 PlexCrowns.

The investment house saw its rating in Domestic Asset Allocation upped from 3.000 to 3.500 PlexCrowns, while its Domestic Equity rating improved from 3.750 to 4.000 PlexCrowns.

Nedgroup Investments’ Domestic Fixed Interest rating, however, weakened from 5.000 to 4.000 PlexCrowns, forcing the investment house into joint third position from a joint first in that category. The investment house’s Total Foreign rating of 3.250 PlexCrowns was maintained, but it slipped to sixth spot from joint fourth in the previous quarter.

Prudential, a familiar name in the top three rankings, has slipped to fourth place, marginally ahead of Investment Solutions. The company’s overall rating dropped to 3.542 from 4.042 PlexCrowns in the June quarter.

Three funds in the company’s fold experienced rating downgrades: the Prudential Balanced Fund was downgraded from 4 to 3 PlexCrowns; Prudential Global High Yield Bond Fund dropped from 5 to 4 PlexCrowns and the Prudential Global Value Fund received a rating of 3 compared to 4 PlexCrowns previously.

TABLE 1