What makes a successful asset management company? It is a question the judging panel of the Investment Week Fund Manager of the Year has asked itself every year for the last 20 years.
In an ideal world it is looking for a group which has the four pillars of success all aligned - namely a great brand, the right product set for investors, strong infrastructure and most important of all consistent fund performance. It is rare for a fund management to have the four elements all operating at the top of their game at the same time.
But Henderson Global Investors was this unique exception in 2015 which is why the judging panel, with their combined industry knowledge of industry experience of over 200 years, named the company as the Global Group of the Year for 2015.
The panel acknowledged the firm had successfully integrated the businesses of both Gartmore and New Star, while retaining the key fund managers and improving the sales support to financial advisers and fund selectors.
During this huge overhaul of the ‘front and back-office' elements of the business the panel noted how important brand has become revitalised with a confident, well thought out positioning displaying a new energy about the company.
In individual sectors Henderson had two funds shortlisted in the absolute return category: Henderson European Absolute Return and Henderson UK Absolute Return.
The judges were looking for a fund which consistently met investors' expectations and they described the two winning fund managers by Ben Wallace & Luke Newman as a ‘classy team' who use a solid approach and application of process to consistently deliver on behalf of their investors.
The pair, who managed the fund, narrowly pipped their colleagues on the Henderson European Absolute Return fund.
Another sector which has grown in importance since the economic recovery got under way is UK smaller companies as investors look to benefit from growth businesses and the Henderson UK Smaller Companies rightly made the list of finalists in this category.
European equities is an area where investors have rightly been allocating money in anticipation of a long term recovery in the market as the continent slows begins to rebuild.
Henderson has long had a reputation as one of the leading manager in European equities in open and closed ended funds and absolute return/hedge fund strategies.
So in 2015 it was no surprise to the judging panel to see on its lists the extremely consistent Henderson European Focus managed by John Bennett.
In awarding the fund as the winner in the Europe category the judges said there was:' one was a clear winner for his sheer consistency of returns on a risk adjusted basis."
And at the heart of the fared improvements is a consistency of performance across a wide range of funds and asset classes.
The Investment Week awards are judged based on consistency over a three year period, broken down into three discrete years as well as the total return over that period.
The panel is particularly looking at ‘draw-down' i.e how have funds performed in periods of market stress, and this is an area where Henderson in the three years to the end of March 2015 fared very well.
The consistency of returns for Henderson's investors is demonstrated by the fact that 83% of its funds are at or exceeding benchmark returns over three years.
The judges concluded:' Henderson has combined consistent performance in key asset classes with a vibrant brand and strong support to advisers and their clients.'
