Colonial First State nabs highest honour
Colonial First State has been awarded the investment industry's highest accolade as Money Management's Fund Manager of the Year.
Colonial First State narrowly pipped Merrill Lynch Mercury and Commonwealth Financial Services who were awarded second and third place respectively. It is the second time in three years the group has grabbed the top honour after winning in 1996, then as First State.
The win tops off a big year for Colonial First State's chief executive officer Chris Cuffe (pictured) who has overseen the integration of the Legal & General and Prudential funds management operations since the group's spending spree began about a year ago.
It has also been a big year for the group's flagship Colonial First State Imputation Fund which has grown by more than 25 per cent over the past year to $1.9 billion, making it the largest retail fund outside of the cash management trust sector.
Investment returns for the Imputation Fund were also strong, thanks largely to a strong performance by the group's equities team.
ASSIRT's funds research manager Carolyn Hampton says the breadth of strength in the investment team helped the group get over the line in the individual categories of Multi Sector Trusts and Allocated Pensions & Annuities as well as second place in the Equities and Superannuation categories.
ASSIRT judges the fund managers based on specifications set out by Money Management. High performance and low volatility are the primary considerations taking into account the size of the fund.
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