The star managers you put your faith (and money) in

As several high-profile fund managers such as Neil Woodford and Tom Dobell have come unstuck over the past year or so, Jonathan Jones looks at six rivals worthy of investors’ cash

do not see them departing from their approach, which has been successful.”

HENRY DIXON MAN GLG UNDERVALUED ASSETS While the managers we have mentioned so far have performed very strongly over the past decade, Mr Dixon’s £1bn fund has done less well. It invests in “value” stocks, which he buys when cheap in the hope they can rebound.

The past decade has been a challenge for value fund managers but Mr Dixon has done better than many. Since its launch in 2013 the fund has slightly underperformed both the London market and its peers but Adrian Lowcock of Willis Owen, a fund shop, said the fund had been beating the FTSE

‘They have had to adapt to running a bigger fund but the style will not change’

100 index by a “significant margin” until the pandemic began.

RICHARD WOOLNOUGH M&G CORPORATE BOND Investing in bonds can be challenging, but Mr Woolnough has done a good job for investors over the past decade with his £3.5bn fund. Mr Younes said the portfolio had beaten its average rival through “effective bond selection”.

The fund has tended to make calls about the markets in addition to individual bond analysis. Mr Woolnough was one of the first fund managers to reinvest in the banks following the collapse in 2008 and has continued to invest in tobacco companies. “He has taken a lot of risk more recently, which has paid off,” Mr Younes said.

JOHN PATTULLO, JENNA BARNARD JANUS HENDERSON STRATEGIC BOND Another bond fund with an excellent long-term record, this £3.1bn “strategic” – or unconstrained – portfolio has beaten its rivals over one, three, five and 10 years. Paul Angell of Square Mile, a fund ratings firm, said the managers had proven themselves over a long period and had been through many different types of market.

The fund aims to provide investors with a high total return, combining capital growth with income, and invests across the range from “junk bonds” to government bonds. The fund has performed well so far this year as it was defensively positioned going into the Covid-induced sell-off in March.