Citywire 1000: top global equity managers revealed

Only 10% of managers running global equity funds have managed to make the grade and be part of the Citywire 1000.

The analysis identifies the top performers from a pool of over 7,500 individual fund managers. This is based on their risk adjusted performance across 98 sectors and ability to generate positive returns over three years to 30 June 2012.

Citywire tracks 1174 managers in the global equity sector and only 127 of these have met the required threshold.

Ole Jørgen Grøneng Nilsen and Andreas Sørbye

The highest, in 96th place overall, is Norwegian duo Ole Jørgen Grøneng Nilsen and Andreas Sørbye. They manage Pareto Aktiv Global and Pareto Aksje Global.

Their value style is based on Benjamin Graham and David Dodd’s investment principles. Running a concentrated portfolio of 25 to 30 stocks, Tesco, the British supermarket is the top holding in Pareto Aksje Global. Its recent troubles saw a sell-off after which US investors Warren Buffet took his stake from 3% to over 5% of the company.

Over three years to 30 June 2012 Grøneng Nilsen and Sørbye have returned 53.8% in the sector versus 38.2% for the FTSE World index.

Other key positions in the fund include Danone, the French consumer food giant and Canadian oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The only bank in the top ten holdings is Goldman Sachs.

Roger Morley

The MFS manager is another global equity name making it into the top 100 managers within our analysis.

He runs MFS Meridian Funds Global Equity, a 95 stock portfolio and MFS Meridian Funds Global Concentrated, containing 25 holdings.

The Englishman, based in London, runs the funds alongside David Mannheim who also features in the Citywire 1000. They look for companies with above average earnings growth, pricing power and strong free cash flow.

This has seen them have a large overweight in the consumer staples sector. Key positions in Walt Disney, Diageo, Nestlé and Heineken have helped drive steady and consistent outperformance.

Paul Girault and Marc Girault

There is a family affair at French boutique HMG Finance where brothers, Paul and Marc Girault, run the HMG Globetrotter fund.

Their approach on the €240 million portfolio involves identifying revenue streams in developing market. This leads them to invest in European businesses that have large income streams in emerging markets or directly into their subsidiaries that are listed in these countries.

For example top holding Siam City Cement is part of Holcim, the Swiss group that is one of the world's leading suppliers of cement.

Over three years the duo have returned 58.4% in the sector versus 32.1% for the LCI FTSE World/MSCI EMF/EM Asia (30:40:30) index.

Ivan Nyssen

In 251st place is Ivan Nyssen from Luxembourg group CapitalatWork. He has managed the €220 million CapitalAtWorkFoyer - Contrarian Equities fund since its launch in 1998.

The bottom-up value style looks to identify stocks that are trading significantly below their intrinsic value. Key criteria Nyssen looks to include free cash flow yield and the quality of management.

His top holdings are in Comcast, the largest cable operator in the US, media giant News Corp and French construction group Vinci. He also has an overweight position in the US at 57% of the portfolio and 36% in Europe with no direct exposure to peripheral countries.

Over three years to 30 June 2012, the fund has returned 47.8% versus 38,2% for the FTSE World index.

To find out more about Citywire 1000 and to order a copy visit www.citywire1000.com.

Performance analysis for the global equity sector has been calculated in US Dollars over three years to 30 June 2012.