A list / league table of pension managers? Does it exist?

bjandch

Hello All,
I am trying to decide who to go with and, though understanding that past performance etc. , would still like to see a league table of some kind of the ranked returns performance of fund managers - and I cannot find one! Am I being spectacularly stupid here? Please would you point me in the right direction?
Thanks
B
x

Linton

You are being, not stupid, but perhaps inexperienced. Your question is a bit like making a choice of car on the basis of which manufacturer makes the fastest models.


A fund manager invests according to the remit of the funds he manages. This may be in riskier potentially high return niche areas such as small companies or Emerging Markets or in a balanced fund that puts stability over maximum return. So to compare returns across very different funds with different objectives is not useful. You need to assess funds from a consideration of which one best meets your needs.

OldMusicGuy

Indeed, you may be showing your lack of knowledge. There are plenty of sites that compare funds (like Morningstar or Hargreaves Lansdown) but not fund managers. Fund managers can manage several funds, so how would you assess their performance over multiple funds? And how would you compare that to index tracker funds that are not dependent on the decisions of a stock-picking fund manager?

It's probably best to do some more reading and maybe ask some more specific questions about the type of investments you are interested in. The best thing you can do is to define your own investing objectives - why are you investing, for how long, and what you hope to achieve.

I notice that your title says a list of pension managers, which again implies a lack of knowledge. You may be confused about the difference between funds and pensions. I would recommend you read "DIY Pensions: A Simple Guide to Pensions, SIPPs & Retirement Planning" by John Edwards to help you get up to speed.

bjandch

Thank you, Linton and OldMusicGuy, your advice is appreciated. I actually don't feel like I understand any of it, regardless of how many times I read about it. But I'll go and have another go. Thanks again.
B
x

ps. OldMusicGuy, I am getting the book you recommend. I hope it is simple ;/

mgdavid

you could always try yourself first ;-)
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&q=league+table+of+pension+managers

OldMusicGuy

mgdavid wrote: »

you could always try yourself first ;-)
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&q=league+table+of+pension+managers

I don't think so - that looks like it's comparing corporate and institutional pension funds. It doesn't appear to be for individual investors (although I didn't sign up to take a look).

OldMusicGuy

bjandch wrote: »

ps. OldMusicGuy, I am getting the book you recommend. I hope it is simple ;/

He's pretty good, he lays things out in a straightforward and clear manner. Here's what you need to understand (if you don't already):

- How a pension platform differs from the underlying investments.
- The different types of investment you can hold in a personal pension/SIPP.
- The difference between active and passive investing.
- The difference between multi-asset and single sector funds.
- What "tracker" funds are.

If you can get to grips with some of those you will be in a better position to ask some more specific questions on here. You could also use the search function on here - all your questions will have been asked before

bostonerimus

bjandch wrote: »

Thank you, Linton and OldMusicGuy, your advice is appreciated. I actually don't feel like I understand any of it, regardless of how many times I read about it. But I'll go and have another go. Thanks again.
B
x

ps. OldMusicGuy, I am getting the book you recommend. I hope it is simple ;/

Don't beat yourself up too much because you are finding it hard to understand this stuff as it's often by design. Fund companies and platforms are selling things and they go out of their way to make their stuff look shiny to the customer by highlighting good things, downplaying the bad and sometimes just making stuff so complicated that you give up and decide you need to pay someone to help you or go with platform recommendations. So arm yourself with some knowledge and do some reading about basic investing. One thing that should help you is to realize that there is no silver bullet or overall best fund, pension or pension manager and if there was that would not tell you who'd be best in the future. So stop trying to be "The Best" and just make sure you are sensible, use reputable platforms and funds and try to minimize your costs within the investing style you choose.

As an example I use a platform that minimizes my costs and invest passively in domestic equity index, an international equity index and a bond index. As a beginner I would research the numerous multi-asset funds available from companies like Blackrock and Vanguard and understand them fully. When you've done that you will understand a lot about investing. and could do way worse than investing in one of them. Don't worry that you might be missing something by not owing some of the thousands of other funds available, you won't be missing much at all.

bjandch

Thank you all, you've been very kind I feel a bit more hopeful, I have ordered the book and it will come tomorrow and I'll swot up over the weekend x

mgdavid

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

I don't think so - that looks like it's comparing corporate and institutional pension funds. It doesn't appear to be for individual investors (although I didn't sign up to take a look).

it's just a google search, with many possibilities, in the usual ranking order. I'm not implying the OP should only look at the top one, just that he could DYOR as well as (and probably to greater effect before) posting here.

Prism

Trustnet has a league table here https://www2.trustnet.com/Managers/ManagerPerf.aspx

However you will need to do a bit of digging into the results to get what you are after. For example it is not clear from the table which funds contribute to the performance.