Jupiter surprise leader of Bestinvest 'dog' list

Jupiter and Schroders are surprise entrants at the top of Bestinvest’s ‘dog assets under management list’, which tracks the largest funds performing well below their recognised benchmark.

The ‘dog' list identifies UK-registered open-ended funds which have underperformed the benchmark in each of the last three years and by at least 10% over the period cumulativel.

A ‘dog' candidate last year, Jupiter's surprise appearance at the top of the list is down to the performance of its £2.8bn Income fund, managed by Tony Nutt. In total, the fund house has nearly £3bn of assets in the ‘dog house'.

Meanwhile, the Schroder European fund continues to disappoint, according to Bestinvest, and the inclusion of Andy Brough's UK Mid 250 fund has caused a 591% rise of Schroders' assets under management in the ‘dog house' to £1.76bn.

Scottish Widows/SWIP came in third place with £1.677bn assets in the ‘dog list', caused by equity income funds entering the doghouse, as well as a range of Japanese and emerging market funds making a reappearance.

St James's Place, with £945m on the list, is a new entry with two funds qualifying, representing around 33% of AUM. Management was outsourced to Taube Hodson Stonex but Bestinvest believes the company has suffered following the passing of Nils Taube, aged 79 in March 2008.

Henderson New Star rounds off the top five worst offenders with £705m on the ‘dog list'.

Overall, the value of investors' assets held in ‘dog funds' topped £14.22bn at 30 September 2009, almost doubling from £7.2bn on 31 December 2008.

However, the total number of ‘dog funds' has fallen from 82 to 78 and they now account for 11.6% of the funds universe compared with 12% earlier this year.

The bad news is the worst performers have been the bigger funds where UK investors have a higher proportion of their cash invested, according to Bestinvest.

Adrian Lowcock, senior investment adviser at Bestinvest, says: "Big funds have returned to the dog house in the latest report. The largest dog fund, Jupiter Income, has assets under management of £2.8bn. Equity income funds also feature more heavily in the figures, as they haven't benefited from the market rally which began in March."

To see a copy of the report, visit www.bestinvest.co.uk/dogs