Best and Worst Performing Funds in Q1

As
Morningstar’s
European
markets
strategist

Michael
Field
said
in
a
recent
video,
it’s
been
a
“strange”
quarter
–
but
it’s
been
overwhelmingly
positive.

“The
market
dipped
a
little
bit
in
January
and
then
just
recovered
again,
and
you’re
looking
at
(…)
close
to
all-time
highs
for
most
markets
now.
That’s
despite
a
mixed
earning
season.
It
seems
to
just
have
shrugged
all
of
those
things
off,”
he
says.

So
where
does
that
leave
funds?
We
have
looked
at
the
over
3,200
Morningstar-rated
funds
available
to
UK
investors,
and
among
these,
almost
90%
managed
to
achieve
a
positive
return
over
the
first
three
months
of
2024.

US
large-cap
growth
and
blend
categories
had
the
strongest
growth,
but
also
Japan,
technology
and
financial
services
funds
were
among
the
best
performers
–
all
with
returns
above
10%
on
average.
The
larger
global
equity
categories
also
had
a
strong
quarter,
growing
in
the
high
single
digits.

Best
10
Performing
Funds
in
Q1
2024

The
best
performers
in
our
dataset
for
the
first
quarter
of
2024
were
two
GQG
Partners
funds
–

US
Equity
and

Global
Equity,
returning
24%
and
20%,
respectively.

Overall
there
are
three
US
equity
funds
and
five
global
equity
strategies.
And,
the
last
two
funds,
completing
the
top
10,
were
thematic
technology
strategies:

Neuberger
Berman
5G
Connectivity,
and

Janus
Henderson
Global
Technology
Leaders.

All
the
funds
in
the
top
10
returned
over
18%
over
the
quarter.
That
said,
almost
300
funds
returned
over
10%
in
the
quarter.

Bottom
10
Performing
Funds
in
Q1
2024

While
it
was
a
strong
quarter
for
markets,
there
were
about
400
funds
that
fell
over
the
same
time
period.
The
worst
performer
was

WS
Amati
Strategic
Metals,
with
a
14%
loss
–
though
it
recovered
some
lost
ground
in
March,
when
it
grew
by
12%
to
become
one
of
the
10
best
performers
for
the
month.

The
only
other
fund
to
see
double
digit
losses
in
Q1
was
the
infrastructure
fund

VT
Gravis
Clean
Energy
Income,
down
13%.

Overall,
the
bottom
10
list
contains
another
four
infrastructure
funds,
but
the
rest
of
the
list
is
a
mix,
featuring
equity
categories
with
global,
Chinese,
European,
and
Brazilian
equities.

Gold
Soars
in
Solid
March
for
Markets

Looking
at
the
past
month
only,
the
best
performing
funds
were
gold
equities,
but
the
vast
majority
of
funds
grew.
Only
100
funds
among
3200
had
negative
returns.

All
the
seven
best
funds
invest
in
precious
metals,
followed
by
three
natural
resources
funds
(including
WS
Amati
Strategic
Metals).
The
best
performer,

ES
Baker
Steel
Gold
&
Precious
Metals,
grew
23%,
and
the
second
best,

Ninety
One
Global
Gold,
grew
22%.

Ben
Yearsley,
director
at
Fairview
Investing,
says
meaningful
trends
are
still
hard
to
find,
however.

“With
the
price
of
an
ounce
of
gold
rising
almost
10%
in
March
(gaining
almost
$200
[£157.97]
an
ounce
to
$2,238)
it’s
no
surprise
seeing
gold
equities
finally
coming
to
the
party,
though
you
do
wonder
where
they’ve
been
for
the
last
year,”
he
says.

“Baker
Steel
Gold
&
Precious
Metals
topped
the
pops
(…).
However,
if
you
look
at
a
performance
chart
since
the
start
of
the
year
and
the
fund
is
flat
similar
to
most
similar
funds.
Does
this
mean
these
funds
are
still
cheap?
You
have
to
go
a
long
way
out
of
the
top
ten
before
hitting
any
other
meaningful
trends
other
than
gold
and
commodities.”

Meanwhile,
the
bottom
list
doesn’t
show
a
clear
trend
but
is
rather
a
mix.

Guinness
China
A
Share
fell
5%
and
was
the
worst
performer
in
March,
but
unlike
the
majority
of
last
year,
it’s
only
one
of
two
China
funds
in
the
list,
alongside

Matthews
China
Small
Companies,
which
fell
2%).
Both
these
funds
were
among
the
best
performers
in
February.

Elsewhere
we
find
Asia
ex
Japan,
Europe
and
biotechnology.
Just
beyond
the
bottom
five,
there’s
even
technology
(Sanlam
APAC
Artificial
Intelligence)
and
Japan
(Baillie
Gifford
Japan
Smaller
Companies).

Yearsley
adds:
“optimism
is
the
name
of
the
game
–
well
if
you’re
a
fund
manager
it
is.
Not
always
known
for
their
forward
thinking,
fund
managers
are
at
their
most
optimistic
for
two
years
–
all
we
need
now
is
those
well-known
mystic
megs –
economists –
to
come
to
the
party.
On
a
serious
point,
the
hard
landing
scenario
seems
to
have
gone
now
with
soft
or
no
landing
the
emperor’s
new
clothes.”

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