American Funds gets the trophy at Lipper Awards

In the economic aftermath of the pandemic, some strategies performed better than others.

Managing through a three-year period marked by a pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rapid inflation and rising interest rates was a major theme at this year’s Refinitiv Lipper Awards.

During that difficult time to invest, some asset managers came out ahead of others, with the big winners including names like American Funds, Fidelity, Invesco, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton and Vanguard.

The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards, announced Thursday, named the top fund families as Capital Group/American Funds (overall and fixed-income large company), Manning & Napier (overall small company), Dimensional Fund Advisors (equity large company), Driehaus Capital Management (equity small company), Carillon Tower Advisers (fixed-income small company), Federated Hermes (mixed assets large company), and Saratoga Capital Management (mixed assets small company).

The breakpoint between small and large companies was $119.9 billion in assets under management.

American Funds carried the awards by garnering the highest number of accolades for its individual funds, with a total of 27 across 3-, 5- and 10-year periods. Twenty of those awards were given to funds in its target-date series.

“We are particularly proud of the breadth of our fixed income and equity funds being acknowledged, as well as our target-date series. Our underlying funds are the building blocks for portfolio success and are what have allowed us to improve the lives of so many people through successful investing over the last 90 years,” Maddi Dessner, head of asset class services at Capital Group, said in a statement from the company. The firm highlighted the fact that its target-date products represent the lowest-cost actively managed mutual fund series, with the biggest absolute and risk-adjusted returns over 10 years. That series brought in the highest net flows among peers in 2022, at $16 billion.

Fidelity followed with a total of 24 awards for its funds, which spanned a range of asset classes, regions and sectors.

Behind that was Invesco, with 20 awards, largely for the performance of its municipal debt funds.

Another big winner, T. Rowe Price, took home 17 awards, several of which were for funds in its Retirement target-date series. Franklin Templeton and Vanguard won 12 awards each, and Dimensional, Eaton Vance, Legg Mason and J.P. Morgan won 10 each.

Federated, which had one award but was nonetheless the mixed asset large company winner, attributed the recognition to its “investment teams’ experience navigating market cycles and adherence to consistent, repeatable processes that aim to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns,” Federated Advisory Cos. CEO John Fisher said in a statement.

Carillon Tower Advisers, which was acquired by Raymond James, pointed to the success of its investment teams’ “playbook.”

“It is a time-tested investment process that is focused on a strict value discipline, with aim to respond opportunistically to perceived valuation discrepancies. This discipline dictates when to play defensive and when to play offense in regard to every risk factor of the portfolio,” Todd Thompson, portfolio co-manager at Raymond James’ Reams Asset Management, said in an email. “Over the past several years, we have had several bouts of volatility in the fixed-income markets, presenting numerous opportunities by which to respond and capture alpha. We were a little surprised we had a year like 2022, which was replete with dislocations, so soon after a historic year for opportunities in 2020.”

Meanwhile, Invesco’s credit team “stuck to [its] knitting,” senior portfolio manager Elizabeth Mossow said Thursday in a panel discussion moderated by InvestmentNews Editor-in-Chief Paul Curcio.

“Our market … is very inefficient. So, as a portfolio manager, we also trade and we work very collaboratively with our analysts. It’s a great culture that we have,” Mossow said, adding that working closely with the sales team has been critical. “Selling yourself correctly really does matter — making sure you are partnered with the right investor base that understands your products.”

Amid the pandemic, Invesco reduced leverage and duration in some portfolios, which was a difficult decision at the time, as some peers were reaching for yield, she said.

“It was very difficult to go against the grain and do some of those early changes, shifting certain portfolios, but it served us very well,” Mossow said. “Sometimes investing takes being wrong before you’re proven right. The culture that we’ve established allows for that thought process.”

Another firm, Artisan Partners, saw its International Value Fund win its category for 3, 5 and 10 years.

Early in the pandemic, “the first thing we did is we went and looked at the 1918 pandemic to get some lessons,” Artisan managing director David Samra said during the panel. “After the pandemic had finished, there was significant inflation.”

The unknown was the duration of the economic effects of the pandemic, but a known was that there would be stocks that lost value and represented buying opportunities, he noted. That included industries that were directly affected by the pandemic as well as stocks that dropped simply because the overall market was declining.

“It’s during crises like the Covid crisis where you tend to find opportunities,” Samra said. “We’ve been able to acquire some very good assets at very attractive prices.”