Funds and sectors
“Outside of major indices, the Indian stock market has been on a summer charge, and that’s reflected in the best performing funds of the quarter, and indeed the year. Japan too features near the top of the table, with commodity funds and smaller companies funds also registering their mark.
“At the bottom of the table, it’s been a year to forget for Chinese equity investors, following government clampdowns on tech and education sectors, and by the recent liquidity crisis at Evergrande. The UK gilt sector also finds itself at the bottom of the performance table since the beginning of the year, as we have gone from preparing for negative interest rates to expectations of tighter policy.”
|
Top funds of the quarter |
Quarterly return % |
Top funds year to date |
Year to date return % |
| Liontrust India | 18.5 | TB Guinness Global Energy | 42.8 |
| Jupiter India | 14.0 | Liontrust India | 39.3 |
| Schroder India Equity | 12.7 | Liontrust UK Micro Cap | 39.2 |
| Liontrust Russia | 12.6 | Consistent Opportunities Unit Trust | 36.1 |
| TB Whitman UK Small Cap Growth | 11.0 | Invesco Emerging European UK | 34.9 |
| ASIMT Japan Life Japan | 10.9 | TB Whitman UK Small Cap Growth | 34.5 |
| ASI Japanese Equity | 10.8 | Artorius | 34.3 |
| ASI Standard Life Japan | 10.7 | Aberforth UK Small Companies | 33.8 |
| ASI Japanese Growth Equity | 10.7 | Jupiter India | 33.2 |
| ASI Eastern European Equity | 10.3 | CFP Castlfd B.E.S.T Sust UK Smaller Cos | 33.1 |
Source: AJ Bell, Morningstar total return in GBP to 30th Sep 2021
|
Top and bottom sectors of the quarter |
Quarterly return % |
Top and bottom sectors year to date |
Year to date return % |
| IA India/Indian Subcontinent | 14.4 | IA India/Indian Subcontinent | 28.4 |
| IA Japan | 7.6 | IA UK Smaller Companies | 24.5 |
| IA Japanese Smaller Companies | 6.6 | IA North America | 16.4 |
| IA UK Smaller Companies | 3.6 | IA Commodity/Natural Resources | 16.3 |
| IA Financials and Financial Innovation | 3.2 | IA Financials and Financial Innovation | 15.7 |
| IA UK Gilts | -1.1 | IA EUR Government Bond | -6.1 |
| IA Asia Pacific Excluding Japan | -4.4 | IA EUR Mixed Bond | -6.3 |
| IA Global Emerging Markets | -4.7 | IA Latin America | -6.4 |
| IA China/Greater China | -11.2 | IA UK Gilts | -7.4 |
| IA Latin America | -11.4 | IA China/Greater China | -8.0 |
Source: AJ Bell, FE total return in GBP to 30th Sep 2021
Shares
“Within the FTSE 100, it’s aerospace stocks flying high in the latest quarter, but the real performance story of 2021 in the UK stock market is takeovers, with Entain, Meggitt and Morrison all seeing enormous share price rises after US buyers swooped in with compelling offers. The oil majors have also had a good year with the oil price now over $80 a barrel, up from around $50 at the start of the year.
“At the bottom of the quarterly performance table is Royal Mail, which has seen its shares shed a quarter of their value in three months. Some of this is likely profit taking, following the huge surge in the share price seen over the course of the pandemic, with more parcels whizzing around the country serving Royal Mail well. However, the potential for supply chain bottlenecks and labour shortages have also taken their toll on the share price of late, unsurprising given Royal Mail’s heavily unionised workforce.
“Another lockdown winner turned loser is Ocado, where a return to regular shopping habits has undermined demand for the digital grocer’s shares. More concerningly for long term investors, a second warehouse fire will unsettle the international market for its order picking technology, which is the key reason its shares are so loftily valued.”
