Three-peat for Pimco's equity funds at Lipper Awards

Nuveen Fund Advisors Inc won the award for best large mutual fund group, and faith-based asset manager GuideStone Funds was named best small mutual fund group at the annual Lipper Awards, which took place tonight at Cipriani in New York. Nuveen, which comprises seven independently managed boutique asset managers, supplants last year's winner, MFS Investment Management, for the top large fund group. GuideStone beat out last year's small-fund-group winner, Delaware Investments. For the list of fund families that won this year's Lipper awards, click here. The Lipper awards highlight funds that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to peers. Funds must have at least three years of performance history to be considered for an award. Firms must have at least $40 billion in assets under management to be eligible for the large-fund-group awards. Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC took home the prize for top large equity company for the third year in a row. It also added two more awards in the large-cap-core and Treasury inflation-protected securities categories. The small-company-equity award saw a repeat winner, as well. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC won the award for the second year in a row. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. knocked out reigning two-time winner Loomis Sayles & Co. LP as the best large-company fixed-income group. The large-company mixed-asset group saw a new winner, as well. John Hancock Group ousted Janus Capital Management LLC, which had won the previous three years. Delaware wasn't able to repeat as best overall small fund group, but it did repeat as best small company in the mixed-assets category, and it won the midcap-growth and corporate-debt BBB-rated fund categories, giving it three awards for the second year in a row. See the full list of 2012 winners below: