Douglas Brodie from Baillie Gifford has been named as the Best Alpha Manager 2021, by FE Fundinfo, as Baillie Gifford picked up four of the thirteen Alpha Manager awards on offer.
The global fund data and technology group launched the Alpha Manager Awards to recognise and celebrate the best fund managers from among those who have been able to consistently create risk-adjusted alpha.
Brodie also won in the ‘Best Alpha Manager – Global Developed Equities’ category, while Tom Slater won in both the ‘Best Alpha Manager – US Equities’ and ‘Best New Alpha Manager’ categories.
Talking to Brodie’sBest Alpha Manager win, Charles Younes, FE fundinfo research manager said: “In what has been a highly challenging year for all active fund managers, Douglas’ performance has been simply exceptional. 2020 was clearly Baillie Gifford’s year and it was impossible to not recognise Douglas and the Global Discovery fund for its long and consistent track record in unveiling hidden gems and navigating the volatility seen in the global markets.”
Tanvi Kandlur, senior fund analyst at FE fundinfo, added that 2020 was the first year Tom Slater was eligible for an Alpha Manager rating. He said: “We have been impressed by his ability in maintaining his position as the top performing fund in the IA North American sector and delivering an incredible return of 122% over 2020.”
Across the other categories there were wins for Alger Management (Amy Zhang – Best Alpha Manager – Small Cap); JP Morgan (Shrenick Shah – Best Alpha Manager – Absolute Returns); Nomura (Richard Hodges – Best Alpha Manager Sterling Strategic Bond); Invesco (Michael Matthews – Best Alpha Manager Sterling Fixed Income); Comgest (Chantana Ward, Makoto Egami and Richard Kaye – Best Alpha Manager Japanese Equities); Matthews Asia (Yu Zhang – Best Alpha Manager Asia Pacific Equities ex. Japan); Marlborough (Richard Hallett – Best Alpha Manager UK Equities); Allianz (Thorsten Winkelmann – Best Alpha Manager European Equities) and Aubrey Capital Management (Andrew Dalrymple – Best Alpha Manager Global Emerging Markets Equities).
Younes continued: “Once again the 2021 Alpha Managers have demonstrated their value for investors and led the charge for good active fund management. Not only have they safeguarded assets during a period like no other in living memory – a global pandemic that triggered the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression – but also capitalised quickly on the opportunities in the global market recovery of the second half of 2020. We offer our warmest congratulations to them all.”
The winners of FE fundinfo’s Alpha Manager Awards are determined by narrowing down the total list of FE fundinfo Alpha-rated managers to a shortlist of the highest-scoring managers per category. Once the shortlist has been refined, FE fundinfo’s panel apply a qualitative analysis overlay to select the industry’s most visionary fund managers.
The 2021 awards saw 67 managers representing 37 fund groups nominated across 13 categories. The year also saw a record number of female fund managers being recognised for their achievements in generating positive market returns.
