The ten best performing funds of 2011

This has been a year when some of the most popular emerging market managers paid the price for the breakneck growth of recent years, with investors fleeing to safe havens as equities tanked amid the eurozone debt crisis.

But which funds managed to make the most money for investors?

Below are the ten best performers over the last year across the IMA sectors (According to Morningstar, from 31.12.10 to 9.12.11) who have outperformed peers.

1. Legg Mason Japan Equity  23.2%

The only equity fund to make the top ten, Hideo Shiozumi's fund delivered the best return of every fund listed in the UK in 2011.
The manager, who conversely boasts the worst performance of all Japan fund managers over five years, has vastly outperformed in the sector throughout 2011 after taking massive bets at odds with peers.
His big calls throughout 2011 were to back small-cap internet-based companies, telecoms, and healthcare groups.

2. Baillie Gifford Active Long Gilt Plus  21.74%

Run by Steven Hay, the fund has outperformed every other gilt offering in both the UK Index-Linked Gilt and UK Gilt sectors.
The fund, which changed its mandate at the end of 2010 to target a higher yield, has benefitted from the sharp jump in the price of gilts throughout the year.

3. Henderson Long Dated-Gilt  20.49%

A gilt fund playing only in the long space - its holdings are all in 15-year gilts or above - managers Phillip Apel and Mitul Patel are currently 99% invested.
The fund outstripped the gilt index after betting on the return of inflation expectations in the UK relative to Europe.

4. Fidelity Institutional Long Bond  20.35%

Ian Fishwick has enjoyed a successful three years in charge of this fund, which invests in gilts with a maturity of 15 years or more.
The £220m fund has been using its overseas allowance in recent months to tap into a number of other bond markets, including German corporates and UK banks.

5. Baring Asset Management UK Long Dated Gilt  20.19%

Barings offering, run by Nigel Sillis, is another trying to beat returns from the longer end of the market, with a benchmark comprised of the FTSE Actuaries Government Securities Over 15 Year Index.