Citywire Ratings: Scandinavian stars flying high

Market snapshot

More than 1000 investment managers operate funds in the Scandinavian region and the latest ratings update highlights some new and old faces who have caught our attention this month.

In total, 290 managers received a rating of some degree in the Scandinavian region this month. This was with 100 AAA’s being awarded, 162 AA’s and 423 A ratings.

Comeback Star: Christian Brunlid, Handelsbanken

Storming back into the Swedish ratings this month is Christian Brunlid, who was last rated back in January 2011. Brunlid is now A-rated in Sweden.

He is the lead manager on the Handelsbanken Svenska Smabolagsfond fund, which invests mainly in Swedish small and mid-cap companies. However the fund does have a remit to invest in other countries and recently Brunlid has taken advantage of this by investing some 2% of his fund in Malta.

Brunlid has experienced recent strong performance, with a 31.18% return over the past three years compared to a 26.55% rise by the MSCI Sweden Small Cap Index, which is the fund’s Citywire benchmark.

Rising Star: Tadao Minaguchi, Invesco

Invesco’s Tadao Minaguchi has received his first AAA rating in Finland this month. The Japanese equity manager is lead manager on the Invesco Japanese Equity Advantage fund and has been at the helm of this fund since its launch in May 2006.

Minaguchi has held a rating in Finland since we launched ratings there in July 2012 but previously has only ever reached AA status.

The increased rating could be attributed to an increased outperformance over the 36 month rolling period. In the last three years, Minaguchi's fund has returned 35.11% compared to its Citywire benchmark, the Topix TR, which rose 18.68%.

Group ratings

On a group basis, Fidelity sits on top of the pile with 17 of its fund managers receiving a rating this month. Meanwhile, JP Morgan is second with 12 rated managers and lying joint third is Danske Capital and Threadneedle, which both have 11 managers earning a rating in Scandinavia.