Tilney Bestinvest's 'Dog List' of consistent underperformers has risen by nearly 50% in the second half of 2015, from 37 to 54 funds, with Jupiter and Majedie making their first appearances.
The wealth manager's twice yearly Spot the Dog report highlights OEICs and unit trusts that have underperformed their benchmarks for three consecutive years, and by more than 10% over a three-year period.
The second half of 2015 saw the number of funds jump by 46%, rising to 54. However, despite the rise the level of assets held in 'dog' funds rose by just £400m, from £17.6bn to £18bn.
The period has seen Majedie Asset Management and Jupiter Asset Management make a new entrance to the list, with one fund each.
Majedie's £450m UK Smaller Companies has made an appearance, after its performance suffered from exposure to mining and energy stocks. The fund is up 14% over three years to 22 January; the IA UK Smaller Companies sector has made 39% over that time, but the fund sits in the Unclassified sector.
Jupiter's £383m North American Income has also appeared in the list, having returned 31% over three years, against the IA North American sector average of 40%, according to FE Trustnet.
Meanwhile, Aberdeen Asset Management continues to hold the title for the most funds on the list with 11 of its products featured, including its £1.1bn Asia Pacific Equity fund, which a return of -17% over three years versus a sector average of -4.7%, and its £75m World Equity Income fund, down 16% over three years against a 17% rise from the IA Global Equity Income sector.
The emerging markets-focused group is also the underlying manager of three Scottish Widows funds, two Halifax funds, one TU Fund Manager fund, and one St James's Place fund that appear on the list.
The report said: "Three of the funds on the list are in Aberdeen's name, but the situation is worse than that: Aberdeen also runs the Scottish Widows and Halifax funds. When the firm took on these funds, we hoped they could turn them around. So far, no such luck."
Despite having just 4 funds on the list, M&G retains its position as the group with the most assets under management held in 'dog funds', at £6.4bn. This continues to be dominated by the underperforming £3.7bn M&G Recovery fund and the £1.8bn M&G Global Basics.
Ongoing volatility surrounding interest rates and oil prices has led North American equity managers to have the highest failure rate, with 10 funds in the 'dog' list, representing 18% of the universe.
Global equities came in as the area with the largest number of 'dog' funds overall, with 18 funds across the combined IA Global and IA Global Equity sectors, representing 14% of the total funds in these sectors.
Jason Hollands (pictured), managing director of communications at Tilney Bestinvest, said: "Now for the good news: dog funds are a rare breed when it comes to certain sectors. In UK Equities, only eight funds out of a universe of 246 were dog-collared, and in Europe we rounded up just four mutts out of 97 funds.
"Many UK equity managers have outperformed the FTSE All Share index in recent times by avoiding or underweighting the troubled oil & gas and mining sectors, unlike index trackers, which have remained fully exposed to their sliding fortunes."
