Dust down that dinner suit or party frock. Roll out the red carpet. It’s time for the inaugural Sensible Investing Awards.
So who are this year’s lucky winners?
L&G Global Index Fund. There were 190 other funds in the global equities sector, but in the 12 months to 1st October, none could beat this humble index fund.
Hedge funds (or at least most of them). The HFRX rose just 3% compared to 18% for the S&P 500 share index.
Survivor of the year
John Paulson. Poor guy. The former darling of the hedge fund world saw his flagship fund fall 51% in 2011, then a further 17% by October, but lives to fight another year.
Survivor of the year - Highly Commended
Anthony Bolton. The former “star” fund manager ran Paulson a close second and must be missing home after his Fidelity investment trust again trailed the MSCI China Index. Not to worry - he’s predicting a turnaround in 2013.
Frightening revelation of the year
The trial of rogue UBS trader Kweku Adoboli lifts the lid on the City’s ‘risk-hungry’ culture. Traders apparently bet on anything from the length of a Budget speech to the number of chicken nuggets they can eat in one sitting.
Daftest media ‘story’ of the year
CNBC and the rest asking experts how investors should react to Hurricane Sandy. It was a storm, for crying out loud.
Celebrity endorsement of the year
Henderson pays Jose Mourinho goodness knows how much to front its latest ad campaign. But even its new star signing can’t prevent continued poor performance and net outflows of more than £2 billion in the first half of 2012.
Politician of the year
Ed Miliband. We are, of course, strictly non-partisan, but credit’s due to the leader of the British Labour Party for calling pension fund charges a ‘rip-off’. If only more of our elected representatives were more willing to speak out.
Comment of the year
“I wish LinkedIn had a "love it!" button; I'd click on it for this one!!” Frank Lehane from Wellspring Wealth Coaching is first to respond to our posting Part 1 of Passive Investing: The Evidence online. (Thanks, Frank - the cheque’s in the post).
And finally, no awards ceremony is complete without a Lifetime achievement award. This year’s winner is Burton Malkiel. The best-selling author last month struck a vital blow in the fight against ageism in the workplace, when he was appointed Chief Investment Officer for Wealthfront at the age of 80. Thanks, Burton... you’ve shown there’s hope for all of us.
Image: Davidlohr Bueso