Must-read for investors: Award-winning Managed Funds for 2019 revealed

Are you looking for a simple way to access and diversify your investments across a range of assets? Canstar’s Managed Funds Star Ratings and Awards could help narrow your search to those that offer outstanding value.

Each year Canstar’s Research team compares net performance and features across a range of managed funds on our database, and awards some of the top products with a 5-Star rating.

Managed funds, depending on the type of fund you choose, can help investors diversify their portfolios and access a range of assets or markets, however fees vary widely depending on the fund.

In this year’s Managed Funds Star Ratings and Awards, the team analysed 235 managed funds across 39 providers. Three providers have won awards for their strong cumulative performance over the five years under consideration and across multiple asset classes.

Managed funds were analysed across multi-sector funds and single asset class funds, with points awarded for net performance as well as the range of features that are attached to the product. Some features considered included online access to fund performance details, the payment methods available and whether a fee rebate was offered.

The winners of Canstar’s 2019 Managed Funds Awards are listed below, in alphabetical order.

2019 Managed Funds Awards

Provider of the Year – Managed Funds: Colonial First State Investments Limited

Colonial First State Investments Limited has been named Provider of the Year – Managed Funds, having provided customers the opportunity to invest across a broad number of asset classes within the one provider.
Canstar’s Provider of the Year Award – Managed Funds recognises managed funds that performed well across a variety of different asset classes, including Australian equities, global equities and multi-sector funds. The award is based on the weighted score of Colonial First State Investments Limited’s top performing funds across all those asset classes.

Colonial First State Investments Limited provides access to a range of highly competitive funds, having received 5-Stars for Outstanding Value for Australian Small Cap and Multisector Moderate asset classes, an indicative 5-Stars for Multisector Balanced funds and a 4-Star rating in each of the other asset classes considered within this award.

Colonial First State Investments Limited’s range of funds have been recognised across the Managed Funds Star Ratings for the balance of Net Performance and Features that their products offer to prospective investors.

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Provider of the Year – Managed Funds (Australian Equities): Macquarie Investment Management

Macquarie Investment Management has been named Provider of the Year – Managed Funds (Australian Equities), for consistently performing well for customers across its single asset class managed funds that only invest on the Australian share market.

This award is based on the weighted score of Macquarie Investment Management’s top performing managed funds for large cap Australian stocks (in the top 70% of market cap) and mid to small cap Australian stocks (in the bottom 30% of market cap).

Macquarie Australian Shares Fund and Macquarie Australian Small Companies were both recognised as providing Outstanding Value to investors for their respective asset classes.

When it came to Net Performance (i.e. the returns minus fees), both of these funds came out on top against others compared in these asset classes, based on Canstar’s methodology. Canstar assesses five years of historical performance which is benchmarked in each year considered. Macquarie’s cumulative performance over the five years was the highest observed for both of the asset classes considered in this award.

Provider of the Year – Managed Funds (Multi-sector Funds): OnePath

OnePath has been named Provider of the Year – Managed Funds (Multi-sector Funds) for consistently performing well for its customers across a range of multi-sector investment options.

The award is based on the weighted score of Multi-sector managed funds offered by OnePath across moderate, balanced and growth investment strategies. The multi-sector moderate profile consists of funds that invest in a number of sectors and have between 21% to 40% of investments exposed to growth sectors, while the balanced option has 41% to 60% of assets in growth sectors and the multi-sector growth profile has between 61% and 80% of assets in growth sectors.

OnePath provides retail access to Vanguard’s index funds (Balanced, Growth and Conservative), making these low-cost investments more accessible to everyday investors. OnePath’s offering of these multisector funds has seen them recognised as offering Outstanding Value, receiving 5-Stars in each of the underlying profiles.

Managed funds considered for our awards had to meet a number of eligibility requirements. For more information about how Canstar’s 2019 Managed Funds Star Ratings and Awards were calculated, please view the methodology.

View the methodology