Economic uncertainty throughout 2016 has prompted a shake-up of Sanlam Private Wealth's prestigious White List, with eight funds falling from the list since June, while Miton's UK Multi Cap Income has knocked the previous leader out of the top spot.
Gervais Williams (pictured) and Martin Turner's £755m CF Miton UK Multi-Cap Income fund topped December's White List, after producing solid returns on a consistent basis, low volatility compared with peers and strong income, despite weak 2016 performance relative to its own history.
Meanwhile, June's White List leader, Francis Brooke's £3.2bn Troy Trojan Income fund, dropped 18 places to fall into the lower-ranked Grey List, following weaker performance in the second half of the year as its quality style bias started to move out of favour.
Sanlam's bi-annual report ranks IA UK Equity Income sector funds using seven different criteria based on returns, volatility and income distributed over the past five years, with the most recent period of performance receiving a higher weighting.
The White List (see below) is formed from funds that have established their ability over five years to produce superior total returns, while the Grey List can be a temporary home for a manager with an out-of-favour style or an early warning signal for a fund in decline.
The Black List (see next page) is for consistent underperformers and, unless remedial action is being taken, a sign for investors to look elsewhere.
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The highest climber in the latest list was the £1bn Schroder Income Maximiser fund, which moved up 27 positions from ranking 34th to 7th spot and re-entered the White List after moving into the Grey List in June's report.
Sanlam said that, by its metrics, the fund was the top performer in the UK Equity Income universe over 2016, with See also ranking first out of peers for dividend income provided in the past five years.
New entrants to both the Income study and the White List include Mark Slater's £114m MFM Slater Income fund and £980m Majedie UK Income, run by Chris Reid, which has maintained strong returns over the longer term despite poor 2016 performance on the back of June's Brexit result.
Other climbers included the £2.9bn JOHCM UK Equity Income fund, which entered the White List after ranking third in the peer group in terms of performance, and the £1.7bn Royal London UK Equity Income and £816m Threadneedle UK Equity Alpha funds, which moved further up the White List.
Colin Morton's £318m Franklin UK Equity Income fund, which was the highest climber in Sanlam's June report, dropped down slightly in the rankings as its income provided over the past five years ranked lower than peers.
Funds exiting the White List to move into the Grey List included Tineke Frikkee's £54m Smith & Williamson UK Equity Income fund, which posted a weaker yield than in June despite continued strong performance, and Michael Clark's £1.1bn Fidelity MoneyBuilder Dividend fund.
