There are many more that have achieved the accolade in just their own sector, but these funds have proven their worth not only against their peer group, but the whole industry.
The list is predominantly made up emerging market and UK small and mid cap portfolios, in part due to the strong performance of these areas of the market.
However, not one of the MSCI Emerging Markets, MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan, FTSE Small Cap or FTSE 250 indices have been top-quartile performers more than once over the four time periods.
Returns over a 10-year period range between the Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies IT’s 899.63 per cent and the Keystone IT’s 272.86 per cent.
The range over five years is between 214.63 and 34.69 per cent, over three years it is between 151.65 and 48.75 per cent, and over one year it is between 48.21 and 19.02 per cent.
Most consistent trusts of the decade
| Name | Sector |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies Investment Trust | IT Asia Pacific excluding Japan |
| Aberdeen New Thai IT | IT Country Specialists Asia Pacific |
| Dunedin Smaller Companies | IT UK Smaller Companies |
| BlackRock Smaller Companies IT | IT UK Smaller Companies |
| Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies | IT Asia Pacific excluding Japan |
| Finsbury Growth & Income Trust | IT UK Growth & Income |
| The Biotech Growth Trust | IT Biotechnology & Healthcare |
| Henderson Smaller Companies | IT UK Smaller Companies |
| Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies | IT UK Smaller Companies |
| Keystone IT | IT UK Growth |
| Jupiter European Opportunities | IT Europe |
| Montanaro UK Smaller Companies IT | IT UK Smaller Companies |
| Acorn Income | IT UK High Income |
| Schroder UK Mid Cap | IT UK Growth |
| Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust | IT UK Smaller Companies |
Source: FE Analytics
Remarkably, of the 15 trusts in the table above, the Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies IT tops the total returns tables over one, three and five years, as well as over 10.
Only three of the funds on the list are top-decile performers – or in the top 10 per cent – over all four time periods: the Aberdeen New Thai IT, the Jupiter European Opportunities Trust and, almost inevitably, the Aberdeen Asian Smaller Companies IT.
As already mentioned, certain asset classes are over-represented in the study due to the strong performance of their area of the market.
However, there are also some standout performers that are consistent top-quartile performers even though their sector has struggled over certain periods.
Alexander Darwall’s Jupiter European Opportunities trust is the only European portfolio on the list. It has managed to return 94.05 per cent over three years, compared with gains of just 1.21 per cent from its FTSE World Europe ex UK benchmark.
Performance of funds vs indices over 3-yrs
Source: FE Analytics
It is a similar story for Nick Train’s (pictured) Finsbury Growth & Income Trust; the portfolio has delivered 77.19 per cent since November 2009, beating its FTSE All Share benchmark by more than 55 percentage points.
In spite of this level of consistency, many of the funds featured above are on heavy discounts at present, largely as a result of the unpopularity of their markets. For example Aberdeen New Thai, which is up 47.61 per cent over the last 12 months, is currently trading on a discount of 13.5 per cent.
Neil Hermon’s Henderson Smaller Companies Trust is on a discount of 18.5 per cent, while BlackRock Smaller Companies and Schroder UK Mid Cap are both trading more than 10 per cent below net asset value (NAV).
The Montanaro Smaller Companies Investment Trust is on the biggest discount – 19.1 per cent – although it should be noted that it has recently been taken over by new management.
In an article earlier this year, FE Trustnet looked at the most consistent funds of the decade.