The winners of this year’s Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards for Germany have been announced. Based entirely on quantitative criteria, the industry’s premier awards programme recognises the country’s best performing funds through a rigorous and independent assessment process.
- For over 30 years and in 17 countries worldwide, the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards have honoured funds and fund management companies that have outperformed their peers on a risk-adjusted basis.
- The awards recognise mutual funds and fund families from across all asset classes, including equity, bond, mixed-asset, commodity and alternatives, with additional awards presented to pension funds and exchange-traded funds in specific fund award universes.
- 2020 was a year like no other. Read what winners say about their achievement and the value these awards create for their firms, clients, and the industry.
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Explore key industry insights, predicted trends and media coverage as and when 2021 winners in Europe and the UK are announced live here.
In a year where market volatility reached record levels, and where business and operational models were completely upended, recipients of the 2021 Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards for Germany deserve a special mention for their resilience to a myriad of market risks, and commendation for their vision, innovation and mastery of today’s rapidly evolving financial markets. Congratulations to each winner.
The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, highlight funds and fund companies that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers.
The awards are based on the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return rating, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 months. The fund with the highest Lipper Leader for consistent return (effective return) value in each eligible classification wins the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award.
Winners of the 2021 Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards for Germany
Individual classifications of three-, five-, and ten-year periods, as well as fund families with high average scores for the three-year period, are also recognised. The awards are based on Refinitiv Lipper’s proprietary methodology.
Watch: Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards
With a 48-year track record of providing independent content, Refinitiv Lipper data encompasses over 345,000 share classes across over 80 countries. Refinitiv Lipper Leader ratings are available for mutual funds registered for sale in 47 markets with over 500 global and 174 U.S. fund classifications.
A message from Refinitiv Lipper
Robert Jenkins, Head of Research, Lipper, Refinitiv, said: “This year’s Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards recognised the steadfast resolve of award-winning managers and firms who successfully navigated one of the sharpest market downturns and recoveries on record, enabling investors to maintain a level of economic confidence amid a backdrop of uncertainty.
“In a year that endured the impacts of an unprecedented global humanitarian crisis, in which markets reflected investors’ emotions of shock and optimism, there was a degree of solace in having one’s financial fortunes overseen by the stewardship of professional money managers.
“The winners of the 2021 Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards for Germany deserve recognition for their exceptional work in mitigating substantial risks while delivering superior returns.”
Exclusive media partner coverage, Mein Geld Medien
Winner coverage, interviews and insights will be available here on 7 April. In the meantime, access our official media partner, Mein Geld Medien pre-awards article.
Lipper Fund Awards: messages from the winners
This year’s award winners share what their award means for their firm and clients.
Aberdeen Standard Investments
“We see the numerous awards as a sign of the hard work and quality of our portfolio management. The extraordinary, active management approach with a high level of staffing pays off, especially in these times. This is a signal to clients and the industry that active managers create added value and are necessary for long-term asset building.
“It is, of course, a nice confirmation for Aberdeen Standard Investments and all the staff that our approach is paying off. As clients are at the heart of our decisions, to deliver better outcomes and impact for them is our purpose.
“Over the long history of the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards, the quality of the evaluation has made the awards an excellent indicator of the best asset managers and their products. A valuable award in our industry for every winner!”
Arnd Seybold, Head of Wholesale Business Development Germany & Austria, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Amundi
“Winning an award is always a highlight – for any house! To have won in two categories at once shows that Amundi has teams across asset classes that develop and implement compelling strategies, which consistently deliver strong, risk-adjusted performance, in a challenging market environment and relative to its peers.
“The objective and quantitative criteria used to select the winners, as well as the comprehensive analysis of fund data, ensures that Refinitiv Lipper Award-winning products have earned the distinction they receive.
“This is an important signal when our distribution partners speak to their clients. Even though the name of the award has changed over the course of more than three decades, it has remained true to its core and still only awards products that have consistently strong risk-adjusted three-, five- and ten-year performance compared with their peers.
“For me, the Refinitiv Lipper Funds Award is therefore one of the most prestigious awards in the industry.”
Alexander Koch, Deputy Head of Third Party Distribution, Amundi
Anima SGR
“We are very pleased with the award given to the Anima Star High Potential Europe fund, managed by Lars Schickentanz, Head of Alpha Strategies Division, and his team.
“This recognition confirms that the fund’s investment strategy was successful in 2020, a very challenging year for the financial markets due to the global health crisis and the economic impacts of the pandemic. This fund was able to defend investors’ money in times of high volatility and to participate in the markets’ rising phases.”
Andrea Mandraccio, Head of Institutional and Wholesale Business, Anima SGR
AXA Investment Managers
“We are very proud that Lipper has recognised our expertise across fixed income and Swiss equities at AXA IM.
“The Lipper awards highlight the robustness of our investment process and provide independent recognition of our success in delivering good client outcomes. Coming so early in the year, they provide a strong foundation for us to build on in 2021, particularly with our exciting plans for responsible investment.
“On behalf of everyone at AXA IM, I would like to thank Lipper for these awards and their acknowledgment of the hard work done by our fixed income and equity teams for investors.”
Andreas Hecker, Head Client Group Core Germany & Austria, AXA Investment Managers
Berenberg
“The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards belong to the most important and prestigious awards in our industry. That is why it makes us proud to be recognised as the best small equity fund manager in Europe and best small asset manager overall in Germany, in addition to the awards for individual funds.
“The awards from Lipper are proof of the quality of our investment platform and our fund management team. We have shown that even in a difficult market environment, our quality-growth approach in equities and multi-asset is the right strategy to pursue. The awards are also an affirmation for us and our clients.”
Matthias Born, Head of Investments, Berenberg Wealth & Asset Management
Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management
“We’re delighted to win this award, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of our investment teams.
“We are very fortunate that the fund benefits from the input from our team of experienced investment professionals, in what truly is a collaborative effort across the whole of Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management.
“For our clients, we hope that this award serves as independent recognition that we continue to do all we can to deliver exemplary performance based on an investment process that is rigorous, robust and repeatable.”
Justin Oliver, Deputy CIO and Lead Fund Manager, CGWM Affinity Fund
Comgest Deutschland GmbH
“The market collapse in March 2020 and the subsequent rapid recovery were a challenge for many asset managers.
“For Comgest, our long-term perspective, deep knowledge of the companies we invest in and investment discipline paid off. This gave us an early and accurate picture of the potential impact of the pandemic on our portfolios and allowed us to manage them accordingly.
“The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards for Comgest Growth Europe Opportunities and Comgest Growth Japan shows that we were successful with this even in a difficult environment.
“The continued success of Comgest Growth Japan shows that while it is still an under-appreciated equity market for many investors, careful stock selection and a longer investment horizon deliver real value here.
“The repeated recognition of our Japan strategy by the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards is an endorsement for our Japan team, Chantana Ward, Richard Kaye and Makoto Egami.”
Thorben Pollitaras, Managing Director, Comgest Deutschland GmbH
Crédit Mutuel Asset Management
“I am very happy for our clients and I think that European Real Estate equities are still a relevant diversification for investors: it provides both liquidity and strong performance in the long term.”
Alexis Bossard, Fund Manager, CM-AM Pierre fund
Davy Global Fund Management
“Davy Global Fund Management (DGFM) is excited to have won its second Refinitiv Lipper Award for the Davy ESG Multi-Asset Fund.
“This award is particularly meaningful as we have always believed it is possible to invest responsibly while maintaining the advantages afforded by a multi-asset approach. We see this as justification for a robust investment process focused on blending the best of quantitative and fundamental investing techniques to create ESG portfolios.
“We look forward to many more years of managing responsible and ESG-integrated portfolios on behalf of our clients and we are privileged to be recognised by an established leader in the area of data and analytics in Refinitiv Lipper.”
Mark Seavers, CIO, Davy Global Fund Management
Evli
“Receiving this award in the highly competitive German fund market is a great tribute and an indication of the international competitiveness of our fund.”
Juhamatti Pukka, Head of Fixed Income, Evli
Eyb & Wallwitz
“Eyb & Wallwitz is an independent asset management company based in Germany. Established in 2004, our company has proven to be a reliable partner for established institutional clients in German-speaking countries and is now one of the largest independent asset managers in Germany.
“Winning a Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award means the hard work, dedication and passion of our team has paid off. For our clients, it is confirmation that they have put their money to work in the right place.
“Such a well-known and respected award shows to our clients and also to the industry that Eyb & Wallwitz can deliver very high and solid quality over a long-term period in respect to all required criteria.
“This award has been one of the most respected in the industry for many years.”
Uwe Diehl, Managing Director / Head of Sales, Eyb & Wallwitz
Flossbach von Storch
“We are very pleased to receive this award. It shows that a flexible, very active investment strategy in the bond market can produce good results.
“This award is a further incentive for us to continue to give everything for our investors in the years to come ‒ and to remain true to our convictions.”
Frank Lipowski, Fondsmanager des Flossbach von Storch – Bonds Opportunities
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
“At Goldman Sachs Asset Management, our clients are at the centre of everything we do. To best serve our clients’ diverse and evolving needs, we have built our business to be global, broad and deep across asset classes, geographies and investment solutions. We are very pleased about this award, as it proves that we are on the right course.
“Our product teams are always focused on delivering consistent and persistent outcomes for our clients. We are honoured to have their hard work and success recognised at this year’s Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards, which have a strong reputation, particularly among professional investors and market experts.”
Dennis Luebcke, Head of Client Business in Germany and Austria, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
GR Asset Management
“Winning the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award in the Equity Sector Materials in a 3-year comparison, for the fund GR Dynamik, which we advise, confirms the success of our team’s continuous development and optimisation of our research approach on the topic of commodity stocks and, of course, particularly pleases our clients.
“The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards motivates us even more to continue to pursue and optimise our strategy in the coming years.”
Dr Uwe Bergold and Christian Wolf, Managing Partners, GR Asset Management GmbH
Green Benefit AG
“This award is a confirmation of our perseverance and our constant adherence to the high-conviction strategy and our pure-play approach.
“It shows that sustainable investments can do very well in a global market environment and can significantly outperform mainstream approaches. This is an important indicator for assessing the quality and consistency of an investment approach.”
Manfred Wiegel, CEO and Fund Manager, Green Benefit AG
Hollyhedge Consult GmbH
“The management is very pleased that is has been able to win this reward and deliver a good return over the last decade for its investors.”
Christoph Lampert, Managing Partner and Frank Zinnecker, Managing Partner, Hollyhedge Consult GmbH
HSBC
“As a team, we are delighted to have won this award. We regard this as real world proof of the validity and resilience of the models we used and, moreover, the underlying beliefs that have heavily influenced our decision rules.
“For our clients, individuals and institutionals alike, this reiterates their own decisions about investing with us and into this strategy.”
Babak Kiani, Portfolio Manager, HSBC
Janus Henderson Investors
“We are delighted to have been recognised by Refinitiv, with a number of awards highlighting our expertise across fixed income and real estate equities.
“These awards demonstrate our commitment to delivering on our strategy of simple excellence by producing dependable investment outcomes for our clients.”
Daniela Brogt, Head of Sales Germany and Austria, Janus Henderson Investors
KEPLER
“It was a great pleasure for the whole team to once again win in the Bonds Europe sector. For us as a team, it is very important to deliver to our clients an excellent return over a long period.
“Short-term volatility is market driven and in the long run, we stay faithful to our bets regarding duration, spread products and currency exposure. Return and risk should meet the long-term profit expectations of our customer.”
Reinhold Zeitlhofer, Funds Manager, Kepler Fonds AG
Merck Finck a Quintet Private Bank
“This widely recognised award reflects a modern, flexible and globally diversified asset allocation approach combined with an outstanding and quality-biased selection process performed by our fund management team.
“The award-winning Merck Finck Stiftungsfonds UI is not only the oldest of its kind on the German market but also the one with the most successful track record. This is due to our convincing, sustainable investment concept.
“The solid investment process is also key for our discretionary mandate solutions for which we use the same approach across the bank to deliver a strong performance for all our clients. Especially in the exceptional year 2020, the robustness of our portfolio construction has been very clearly demonstrated.
“We are honoured that the experts at Refinitiv, with their longstanding investment experience, rated the approach of our endowment fund so positively.”
Robin Beugels, Head of Investment Management, Merck Finck a Quintet Private Bank
Nordea Asset Management
“We are truly honoured to receive these prestigious awards from Lipper and to be recognised among our peers for the strong risk-adjusted performance of two of our Emerging Markets solutions.
“Putting risk at the heart of our investment process has allowed us to deliver consistent returns over time for our clients. We continuously work with their needs in mind, and being acknowledged by the industry for our day-to-day work is truly gratifying.”
Dan Sauer, Head of Institutional and Wholesale Distribution, Central Europe, Nordea Asset Management
PGIM Investments
“We are delighted that this award recognises the PGIM Jennison Emerging Markets Equity Fund for its outstanding three-year performance results.
“This is a testimony to our long-term track record of identifying the best high-growth companies and investing in them early, which has been part of Jennison Associates’ DNA since 1975.
“We are committed to providing clients with best-in-class investment solutions and consider today’s environment to be attractive for growth equity investors.”
Thiemo Volkholz, Vice President, Head of German, Austrian & Swiss Accounts, PGIM Investments
Seilern Global Trust
“We are pleased that our fund Seilern Global Trust could qualify for the highly respected Lipper Fund Awards in the categories for the 5- and 10-year periods, within a group of 546 funds (for the 5-year period).
“All of our funds follow the same Quality Growth Strategy that is based on Seilern’s ‘10 Golden Rules’. That our funds also qualified for Lipper Awards in previous years gives us confidence that our ’10 Golden Rules’ can contribute to protecting our clients’ assets in different market environments.”
Seilern Global Trust team
SparInvest
“The team behind our Danish fixed-income products is very pleased to receive a Lipper Award.
“When efforts and hard (team) work, lead to good performance, and result in a respected award, we are reminded why we do what we do – passion to deliver. Our clients don’t need a reminder, but we are certain they are pleased with the award, too.
“For Lipper to confirm that you did the right thing is always appreciated.“
Janne Bjerregaard, Chief Portfolio Manager, SparInvest
Union Bancaire Privée
“We are delighted to have received a Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award for the UBAM – Global High Yield Solution, particularly on the fund’s 10th anniversary. With this fund, our goal is to deliver consistently strong, risk-adjusted performance for our clients and this award recognises this achievement.”
Philippe Graub, Head of Global and Absolute Return Fixed Income Team, Union Bancaire Privee
Vontobel
“The awards are a testament to our passion for high-conviction active management and the strong performance culture inherent in our specialised and talented investment teams.
“As investors, our mission is clear: we aim to create added value for our clients and are committed to pursuing this objective with discipline and transparency. The active approach employed by our portfolio managers enables them to exploit investment opportunities, which is vitally important in this low-yield environment.
“We support independent thought, strong convictions and a forward-looking mindset. Thank you Refinitiv, for these awards.”
Simon Lue-Fong, Head of Fixed Income, Vontobel
Disclaimer:
The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards, granted annually, highlight funds and fund companies that have excelled in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers.
The Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return rating, which is a risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 months. The fund with the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value in each eligible classification wins the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award. For more information, see lipperfundawards.com Although Refinitiv Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Refinitiv Lipper.
