BlackRock Tops FE's Latest Crown-rated List In Reshuffle

In the previous reshuffle in January, BlackRock had nine 5 Crown-rated funds, but this has since risen to 12, placing the firm in pole position and knocking Schroders off the top spot and out of the top ten.

Tanvi Kandlur, senior fund analyst at FE, commented: "Many of BlackRock's funds have seen upgrades at this rebalance, reflecting the strong performance across the wide range of strategies the firm offers."

Meanwhile, Liontrust is a new entrant to the top ten, with the newly rated Liontrust UK Micro Cap fund one of over 50% of the firm's funds awarded five Crowns in the latest rebalance. 

This places Liontrust joint second in the top ten, alongside T. Rowe Price, with both firms achieving 11 of the highest FE ratings.

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FE fund analyst Amy Kennedy said: "As the fund reached its three-year mark, the team at Liontrust continue to demonstrate their excellent ability to select stocks despite the headwinds UK smaller caps have faced since 2016. 

"The team's preference for technology companies as well as their growth style has helped too, as both have been in favour over recent years."

Sophie Meatyard, fund analyst at FE, added: "The Liontrust Sustainable fund range has performed particularly well over the last year. 

"The funds have outperformed their respective benchmarks significantly, driven by their decisions to exclude oil and gas companies, which has been a good call, and for many funds, structural biases towards technology companies have been positive. On top of this, stock selection for the individual funds has been excellent."

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Funds must have three years of history to qualify for a FE Crown rating. Other newcomers include AXA World Funds, Framlington UK and Unicorn UK

Ethical Income.

Kennedy commented: "Having recently reached its three-year mark, Unicorn UK Ethical Income, like the unconstrained version, has benefitted from excellent stock selection by the team despite the headwinds that UK smaller companies have faced since 2016."

Sectors

Overall, FE's latest bi-annual rebalancing has awarded 366 funds with 5 FE Crowns, an 8.93% increase from last year. This includes seven newcomers, although this is less than half the number of newcomers compared to last year.

However, 37 funds have jumped three or more FE Crowns to achieve the top accolade.

Indeed, 11 funds have moved from a 1 Crown to a 5 Crown rating since January, including Aberdeen Strategic Bond, Hermes Multi-Strategy Credit and Quilter Investors Bond 1, which all sit under the Sterling Strategic Bond sector. 

The sector has seen its presence in the 5 Crown-rated funds table soar since last year and now tops the sector chart with 32.1% of its funds achieving a 5 Crown rating. 

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This is followed by the North American Smaller Companies sector (21.4%), UK smaller companies (18.8%) and Volatility Managed (18.4%).

FE research manager Charles Younes said: "Over the past three years, bond markets went through an entire cycle. Strategic bond managers benefitted from their flexibility to invest across the fixed income spectrum. 

"As a result, strategic bond managers generated returns with less volatility, and more compelling risk-adjusted returns."

Meanwhile, some fund sectors failed to achieve any 5 Crown-rated funds: IA European Smaller Companies, IA Global Equity Income, IA Japanese Smaller Companies, IA Short Term Money Market, IA Standard Money Market and IA UK Equity & Bond Income.