Citywire Ratings: central Europe’s rated elite revealed

Market Snapshot

This month 40 managers gained their first ever rating in the central European region - the highest number of debutants in any of the regions we cover.

In total, 1,845 individual ratings were awarded to 487 managers across the region. This comprised 248 AAA, 457 AA and 1140 A individual ratings.

Highest Entrant: Bruno Paulson, Morgan Stanley IM

One of the highest entrants this month is Morgan Stanley’s Bruno Paulson, who is co-manager on the Morgan Stanley Global Brands mandate alongside Euro Stars A-rated maangers Peter Wright and William Lock. He now holds a Citywire A rating in this region.

Paulson enters the ratings this month following a strong performance by the fund over the past three years, in which time it returned 51.37% to investors.

Its current largest holding is in multinational firm Nestlé, which has recently been buoyed by news it is setting up a joint venture with Hutchinson China MediTech. The UK and the US dominate its regional allocation, commanding over 60% of the fund.

These investment picks seem to have propelled the fund well ahead of the MSCI World index which only returned 35.57% over the past three years.

Comeback Star: Jason Pidcock, Newton

Re-entering the ratings this month is Citywire AAA-rated manager Jason Pidcock. His fund, the Newton Asian Income, was recently registered for sale in Switzerland and has now become available to Swiss investors.

In the last three years the fund has returned 73.07%, more than double its index, the FTSE AW Asia Pacific ex Japan, which rose 35.77% over this time.

This outperformance has led him straight back to the upper echelons of the Swiss ratings and he now holds AAA ratings in two of the six central European countries we cover.

Rising Star: Ciaron Mallon, Invesco Perpetual

Ciaron Mallon has moved up the ratings this month. He is the lead manager on the Invesco Perpetual Income & Growth fund, which is UK-domiciled but available in other markets as well.

He has consistently held a rating in the UK since February 2011 and entered our ratings in January 2008. Mallon’s investment strategy sees consumer services, industrials and financials dominate the asset allocation.

This strategy has led the fund to top quartile returns over the last three years returning 34.75%. This is against a 21.26% rise by the FTSE 350 Higher Yield index.

His overall risk-adjusted outperformance has led him to the upper tier of the UK ratings as he is now AAA rated in the UK for the first time.

Group stakes

In the group stakes, Fidelity tops the table with 19 mangers holding a rating in at least one of the 14 central European countries we cover. Second sits Threadneedle with 13 and JP Morgan is third with 12 rated managers.