MFS reached top spot in Scope’s large asset-manager ranking for the first time in the first quarter of 2019, while Lupus Alpha, a first-time entrant, went straight to number one in the small-manager ranking.

MFS Investment Management reached the number one spot for the first time in the large asset-manager category, which ranks managers with 25 or more rated funds. Just a year ago, the US fund manager was in 23rd place. Its leap to the top was driven by an improvement in the proportion of its funds with top ratings from 38 per cent in Q1 2018 to 63 per cent at the end of March this year.


Second and third place went to Legg Mason and BlackRock – neither of which were in the top 10 a year ago. Legg Mason improved its share of top ratings from 35 per cent to 59 per cent, climbing to second place from 30th in Q1 2018. BlackRock increased its share of top-rated funds from 42 per cent to 56 per cent over the same period, advancing from 17th to third place.


Investec, Metzler and Robeco were relegated from the top 10. Of the three, Metzler’s top rating share fell the furthest: from 56 per cent to 36 per cent year-on-year, pushing it to 31st place in the first-quarter ranking.


There was also a new number one among small fund managers (those with between eight and 24 rated funds). Lupus Alpha was included in the asset manager ranking for the first time. With all eight of its funds achieving a top rating, the manager was the undisputed leader with a top-rating ratio of 100 per cent. Comgest and Degroof Petercam followed in second and third place with top rating shares of over 80 per cent.


Scope continuously rates around 6,000 UCITS investment funds authorised for distribution in Germany. A third of these funds currently has a top rating.