Schroders takes a hat-trick

Three times in a row makes it a hat-trick for Schroder Investment Management, which has once again been crowned the 2011 Money Management/Lonsec Fund Manager of the Year. The investment house was praised by Lonsec for its quality offering and outstanding performance across a number of asset classes.

“Schroders is a quality investment house offering investors superior product across a number of asset classes,” Lonsec said. “The manager has a strong risk management focus and advanced portfolio construction techniques. Schroders’ underlying sector capabilities are rated highly across the board by Lonsec analysts, with the highest possible ratings achieved in Australian equities and fixed income.”

The win comes as no surprise, given Schroders’ dominance in this year’s awards. The firm has secured the top spot in three of its four nominated categories and has featured more than any other fund manager.

Greg Cooper, chief executive officer at Schroders, credited the firm’s success to its long-term approach to investing. He said: “I think one of the reasons that we have been acknowledged in these awards is our approach has been to think through the cycle. We have not been thinking for the hills. Instead, we have adopted an approach that we hope will stand the test of time. There has been lots of volatility in the market, so standing back and observing what is going on is a process that serves us very well.”

Cooper credits Schroders’ head of fixed income and multi-asset, Simon Doyle, and his team for successfully battling through a volatile market. “Simon and his team have done a fantastic job, particularly in very volatile fixed income markets. One of the beauties about Schroders is the ability to operate a multi-asset approach which allows for interplay between various asset classes,” he said.

Indeed, Schroders’ investment style was commended by Lonsec for its outperformance. The research house said: “Schroders’ diversified funds have outperformed peers and benchmark over all time periods, with value added across all stages of the investment process. Key decision makers for the funds are experienced and highly regarded.”

On hearing Schroders’ was shortlisted once again for the Fund Manager of the Year award, Cooper said: “It would be a great honour to win three in a row, but to just be nominated is an amazing achievement. To win two previous awards in different financial cycles and differing extremes is fantastic.”

Runner-up in this category was Goldman Sachs Asset Management which has a long history of providing leading domestic and global investment offerings in Australasia. Phil Gardner, managing director and head of distribution at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said the firm’s position as a finalist was down to its commitment to client service and its focused risk management approach.

“Our disciplined approach to risk management and sharing insights across asset classes helps us generate strong, consistent and repeatable returns for investors. We are honoured that Money Management and Lonsec have recognised the calibre of our investment professionals and we believe the awards reflect the level of insight and strategy that we strive to bring to our investment products and our investors,” he said.

Third-placed finalist, Aberdeen Asset Management, said the consistency of its approach was what made it stand out from the crowd in this category. Brett Jollie, managing director at Aberdeen Asset Management, said: “What makes us different is the discipline and consistency of our investment process across market cycles, the experience and resourcing of our investment teams both in Australia and offshore, solid long-term outperformance and the support of our global investment professionals.”