REUTERS/Paul Hackett
Take your hat off to these guys.
Between them, the five have £108 billion ($169.3 billion) in assets under management: slightly more than the GDP of Morocco. The ranks are based only on assets that are available to
The list has been put together by the fund analysts over at Citywire, and there's a snippet below about each of the five from Frank Talbot, deputy head of research at Citywire.
From 5th to 1st, here are the fund managers with the biggest funds available to UK investors.
5.) Mark Kiesel (PIMCO) (£12.5bn) AAA-Rated
Funds: PIMCO Global Investor Series (GIS) Credit Absolute Return, PIMCO GIS Global Investment Grade Credit, PIMCO GIS Low Duration Global Investment Grade Credit, PIMCO GIS Total Return Bond
"Kiesal has been consistently rated by Citywire over the past three years, which is no mean feat. His bond funds are diverse from the most plain vanilla of investment grade corporates, to the most sophisticated absolute and total return bond funds."
4.) Hugh Young (Aberdeen)(£15.5bn)
Funds: Aberdeen Asia Pacific & Japan Equity, Aberdeen Asia Pacific Equity, Aberdeen Global - Asia Pacific Equity, Aberdeen Global - Asian Smaller Comp, Aberdeen Global - Chinese Equity, Aberdeen Global - Indian Equity, Aberdeen Japan Equity
"Hugh Young has built up his considerable assets in Asian investments through a disciplined approach to the risks he exposes his fund to. This has led him to have one of the sector's best long-term track records. Recent performance in Asian equities hasn't't been his best, but it would be hard to bet against him turning that around."
3.) Mark Barnett (Invesco) (£20bn) AAA-Rated
Funds: Invesco Perpetual High Income, Invesco Perpetual Income
"Mark Barnett had the unenviable task of recently taking over the portfolio of the UK's best known fund manager, Neil Woodford. However, he is no unknown himself, having built up an impressive track record and currently holds the top AAA rating from Citywire."
2.) Michael Hasenstab (Franklin Templeton) (£26bn) A-Rated
Funds: Templeton Global Bond, Templeton Global Total Return, Templeton Emerging Markets Bond, Templeton Asian Bond, Templeton Emerging Markets Balanced
"Hassenstab is bizarrely unknown to UK investors, with most of his assets coming from overseas. However, his funds are available here and now that Gross has left PIMCO he is the biggest player in fixed income markets. His Global Bond fund in particular is large enough to move markets and makes large concentrated bets. The bias to emerging markets adds to its volatility but his long term performance remains compelling."
1.) Richard Woolnough (M&G) (£34bn)
Funds: M&G Optimal Income, M&G Corporate Bond, M&G Strategic Corporate Bond
"Chesterfield born Richard Woolnough is the largest fund manager available to UK investors by quite some way. The bond manager has skilfully navigated the post-credit crisis period, fully utilising the capabilities of M&G and the flexible privileges in his Optimal Income fund to generate exceptional returns that have brought with them large assets."