Lipper awards celebrate strong year for mutual fund industry

A stock market rebound and healthy fund flows had the mutual fund industry in good spirits Wednesday night at the 2024 LSEG Lipper Fund Awards in New York.

The awards celebrate the success of US portfolio managers and the fund management companies that posted the strongest risk-adjusted returns in the industry.

Tom Roseen, head of research services at LSEG Lipper, called 2023 a “banner year” in the fund industry, with both fixed-income and equity funds posting strong gains in the wake of a particularly brutal 2022 for investors. He also pointed out that the financial community has showed true resolve in recent years, overcoming a series of fierce headwinds, including Covid, a spike in inflation and geopolitical concerns.

“The funds that were recognized tonight really were able to navigate the uncharted waters of these events and still post strong risk adjusted returns which is really what skilled investing is all about,” Roseen said.

The LSEG Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Leader for Consistent Return rating, which is an objective, quantitative, risk-adjusted performance measure calculated over 36, 60 and 120 months. The fund with the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return, or so-called “effective return,” value in each eligible classification wins the LSEG Lipper Fund Award.

Overall, 117 funds won an award for the three-year period ended November 30. Moreover, 116 funds were recognized with a Lipper Fund Award over the five-year period, and 108 funds won the prestigious trophy for the 10-year period.

The group awards are divided into large and small asset management groups based on a regional assets-under-management split. For the US awards, that breakpoint was $136.9 billion in fund assets under management as of November 30.

Dimensional Fund Advisors took the top billing as the best large fund family equity group for the second consecutive year, beating out 25 other fund families. Meanwhile, Third Avenue Management took the top honors as the best small fund family equity group, beating out 185 other fund families for the title.

In the fixed-income arena, Invesco Advisers took home the trophy for best bond large asset fund manager.

Nolan Anderson, portfolio manager for Weitz Investments, winner of the core-plus bond fund award for the 3- and 5-year periods, said that over the past year, fixed-income markets have moved “from fear of recession to fear of higher interest rates to now fear of missing out of a soft landing. As a result, risk premiums have contracted significantly and more caution is warranted.” 

Other winners included PGIM Investments, which won the trophy for the best mixed-assets large fund manager group. And Mutual of America Capital Management won the award for the best mixed-assets small fund family group.

“We’re thrilled to be recognized by LSEG Lipper with 10 awards in the U.S. mixed-asset target-date fund categories and for best overall small firm in the U.S. Group Award mixed-assets category,” said Stephen Rich, CEO of Mutual of America Capital Management. “It’s an honor to have the success of our MoA Clear Passage Funds acknowledged for their consistently strong performance, which further highlights our commitment to helping our investors achieve a financially secure future.”

Elsewhere, Dimensional Fund Advisors took top billing as the best overall large fund management group for 2024, while Putnam Investment Management won for the best overall small fund management group.

Jack Fischer, senior research analyst at Lipper Research, noted that while the portfolio managers accept the hardware at the event, winning a Lipper award is truly a team effort.

“There are risk and performance analysts, market researchers, marketers, and lots of other professionals that help a fund consistently succeed. And long term success really is what we are rewarding,” Fischer said.