The Money Management Fund Manager of the Year category winners and runners up

While Colonial and MLC may have taken the top two positions in the Money Management Fund Manager of the Year due to their strong showing over a number of categories, both failed to win a single individual award.

As the tables on these pages illustrate, there was a wide spread of fund managers who shone brightly in individual awards. It is probably an indication of the breadth of talent in the industry that so many managers vied for recognition across the diverse range of asset classes.

Mercantile Mutual's win in the Australian equities section is an excellent example.

After bagging the overall Money Management Fund Manager of the Year award in 1997, the group was rocked by the departure of high profile fund manager Greg Matthews to Macquarie. Peter Mouatt picked up where Matthews left off using the Mercantile Mutual house style and guiding it to this year's victory in the Australian equities division. The award is also an indication of the investment team put together by Paul Scully who has recently taken on a more regional focus within the ING group.

But it is not just the major players who stole the investment thunder in 1999, there was also some great performances by some smaller managers.

This is nowhere better exemplified than in the international equities sector. The top two contenders in 1999 are part of a growing number of niche players who are quickly growing into major players or targets for the bigger players. The winner, Platinum Asset Management, began life a few years ago as a boutique fund manager created by a group of former BT Funds Management investment people to specialise in international equities. The group now has a substantial funds management operation, including managing a sizeable chunk of MLC's international portfolio.

In second place in international equities was Hunter Hall. This group is also a reasonable small player in the market with about $250 million under management. Hunter Hall's excellent performance in recent times is also remarkable due to the fact that the group invests only in companies that fit their ethics criteria.

In some ways, the smaller managers have an advantage in investment markets as they are more nimble and have the ability to enter and exit investments quickly. However, the funds management powerhouses were dominant in most of the categories this year. AMP put a number of years of average performance behind them to take out the property funbds award. AMP are certainly a manager to look out for in future awards.

BT Funds Management was successful in a number of categories which was also proof that a major internal ruckus need not make your clients suffer as well.

Australian Equities

1. Mercantile Mutual

2. Colonial First State

3. Rothschild

4. JB Were

Multi-sector

1. BT Funds Management

2. MLC

3. National Australia Bank

Mortgage Funds

1. Challenger

2. Perpetual Investments

3. Commonwealth Financial Services

International Equities

1. Platinum Asset Management

2. Hunter Hall Investment Management

3. Lend Lease

4. Invesco Asset Management

Property

1. AMP

2. Colonial

3. Westpac

Aust fixed Interest

1. Citicorp

2. AM Corporation

3. Westpac