Which are the most consistent funds of the past decade?
LF Lindsell Train UK Equity is the most consistent fund of the past decade*. The fund, run by Nick Train, has beaten its peer group sector average in each of the past 10 calendar years.
In eight of those calendar years, it has outperformed by 6%* or more, which soon adds up: over the whole decade, the fund has returned 362.62%*** compared with 144.96%*** for the IA UK All Companies sector. The fund is a new entry into the Chelsea Core Selection this month.
Nick Train is one of the UK's best-known fund managers. He is famous for his 'buy and hold' philosophy and long term approach. The fund is uncompromising and only invests in the highest quality companies. Nick's portfolio is typically very concentrated with over 70% of the fund's alue in its top 10 holdings and is therefore very different to its benchmark.
Three other funds: Baillie Gifford International, Royal London Sterling Extra Yield Bon, and L&G UK Property have also beaten their peer groups in each of the last 10 years* – Lindsell Train UK equity just pipped them to the post in terms of margins of outperformance.
Of the some 1700 funds with a 10 year track record, a further eleven managed to outperform their peer group average in nine of the past 10 years*.
Rathbone Global Opportunities has been on the Chelsea Selection since March 2006. A long-standing favourite of our research team, it is run by James Thomson and focuses mainly on companies from the developed world.
Schroder Asian Alpha Plus is the next longest-standing fund from the table on our Selection list. It was added in March 2011 and is run by Matthew Dobbs. Matthew looks for companies that can exhibit organic growth and has a one-in, one-put policy for the portfolio to make sure it remains a mix of his very best ideas.
15 most consistent funds over the past decade
| Fund name | Calendar years* of outperformance | Sector | Cumulative 10-year** performance | Chelsea Selection |
| LF Lindsell Train UK Equity | 10 | IA UK All Companies | 362.62% | Yes |
| Baillie Gifford International | 10 | IA Global | 266.37% | |
| Royal London Sterling Extra Yield Bond | 10 | IA Sterling Strategic Bond | 204.18% | |
| L&G UK Property | 10 | IA UK Direct Property | 93.92% | |
| Schroder QEP US Core | 9 | IA North America | 279.36% | |
| Royal London Corporate Bond | 9 | IA Sterling Corporate Bond | 102.5% | |
| Rathbone Global Opportunities | 9 | IA Global | 312.06% | Yes |
| Royal London UK Equity Income | 9 | IA UK Equity Income | 204.34% | Yes |
| Insight UK Index Linked Bond | 9 | IA UK Index Linked Gilts | 129.92% | |
| Marlborough UK Micro Cap Growth | 9 | IA UK Smaller Companies | 540.23% | Yes |
| Liontrust Special Situations | 9 | IA UK All Companies | 381.21% | Yes |
| Wise Multi-Asset Income | 9 | IA Flexible Investment | 182.82% | |
| GS Sterling Credit Portfolio | 9 | IA Sterling Corporate Bond | 93.29% | |
| JPM Emerging Markets Small Cap | 9 | IA Global Emerging Markets | 342.30% | |
| Schroder Asian Alpha Plus | 9 | IA Asia Pacific ex Japan | 344.34% | Yes |
How the data was analysed
We started by looking at every fund in the IA sectors, with a 10-year track record. The specialist sector and money market sectors were then removed – the former because a like-for-like comparison cannot be made with a sector average as the funds are all so different, and the money market funds are cash-like products. We also removed tracker funds, where no value can be added by a fund manager.
*Source: FE Analytics, total returns in sterling, calendar years 2009 to 2018, each fund compared with its IA sector average return.
**Source: FE Analytics, total returns in sterling, 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2018.