Choosing the right fund to invest in is a difficult task – the industry offers thousands of choices, based on your propensity to risk as well as geographical regions and preferred sectors. However according to a new report, some funds are clearly managed better than others; the top two income investors on this list would have netted you a compelling income of almost 50 per cent of your original investment.
1) Francis Brooke – Trojan Income
Born in Dublin in 1963, Francis Brooke was educated at Eton before studying politics at Edinburgh University. The Hargreaves Lansdown UK Equity Income Report praised Brookes’ income offering: ‘The fund takes a conservative investment approach which focuses on sheltering investors’ capital in tough times. The manager does this by picking companies with stable earnings and high barriers to entry, while occasionally using cash and gilts to protect investors from market falls.’
He has made an impressive 127 per cent return over the past 10 years. Had you invested 10,000 in his fund at the end of 2006, you would have generated a whopping income of £4,549.
2)Thomas Moore – SLI UK Equity Income Unconstrained
In 2015 Moore was named as a ‘rising star’ in the hedge fund industry by BestInvest. He has been in charge of the Standard Life UK Equity Income Unconstrained Fund for six years and he has steered it successfully over that time; according to Standard Life Standard Life believes that Moore’s inclination towards domestic UK firms “continues to reap the benefits from a recovering economy with robust consumer spending and a strong labour market.”
The report also said that both Moore and Martin Cholwill, at number 5, have been given a ‘leg up’ through a high exposure to medium-sized companies. Over the last ten years, More has would have made those who invested £10,000 at the end of 2006 a return of 122.8 per cent and £4,571 income.
3) Mark Barnett – Invesco Perpetual High Income
One of Investec’s most experienced fund managers, specialising in UK equity income investing. Late last year Barnett announced his intention to hand over management of the Invesco Perpetual Select Trust after 10 years at the helm, to younger colleague James Goldstone. He took over management of Invesco Perpetual’s flagship income funds following star fund manager Neil Woodford’s departure in March 2014.
4) Richard Colwell – Threadneedle UK Equity Alpha Income
Richard started his career at the Bank of England in 1990 and joined B2W in 1994. In late 1994 he joined Schroder Investment Management,
His career also included gigs at Credit Suisse Asset Management and Aviva Investors before joining Columbia Threadneedle.
5) Martin Cholwill – Royal London UK Equity Income
He began his fund management career in 1983, spending 21 years working for AXA Investment Managers, managing a wide variety of UK equity mandates.
Star fund manager Neil Woodford did not make the top five this time around, coming in at sixth place. Interestingly, Hargreaves Lansdown’s report, which includes the top ten fund managers, does not have one woman on the list – suggesting that despite several initiatives to improve gender balance in the City, it has yet to filter through to the top tiers.