Japan managers help maintain number of consistently top quartile performing funds

investmentweek.co.uk:

'Consistency faltered in the fourth quarter as the mood music again took on a different tempo.'

According to Columbia Threadneedle Investments' latest Multi-Manager Fund Watch survey, 12.3% of funds in the IA Japan sector achieved rolling 12-month top quartile performance, comprising a fifth of the total funds that managed this performance in Q4 2023.

Japan's actions speak louder than words

While the IA Global Emerging Markets and Global Equity sectors had a higher number of funds achieve this metric, they both had considerably smaller proportions of total funds manage the task — just 9% and 2.8%, respectively.

No funds within the IA £ Corporate, IA UK Equity Income or IA North American sectors achieved the feat, while just one fund from each IA Europe ex UK, IA Global Mixed Bond and IA Sterling Strategic passed this test.

Although the proportion of funds managing the task dropped from 3.9% in Q3 2023 to 2.8% in Q4 2023, the figure remains well within the consistency ratio's historical average of 2-4%, and bests both Q1 and Q2's results.

Kelly Prior, investment manager in the multi-manager team at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, praised the performance of Japan managers: «Japan proved to be something of an outlier in 2023. A market often forgotten due to its ever-decreasing importance in global indices, it continues to prove a rich hunting ground for active management.»

Asian funds endure poor performance in 2023 as local currency bonds thrive

When the marker is dropped to funds achieving above average performance across rolling three years, Japan still stands as the strongest sector, with 32.3% of funds crossing this line.

At the other end of the spectrum, only 10% of IA UK Equity Income funds managed the less