Leading funds in the final quarter of a tough year
19th December 2022 13:25
by Douglas Chadwick from ii contributor
All the fund sectors Saltydog Investor tracks fell in value in 2022, but there are two bright spots.
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After a relatively encouraging October and November, most stock markets fell in December. There is still time for a final “Santa rally”, but it will have to start soon.
So far this month, the FTSE 100 has fallen by 3.2% and the FTSE 250 is down 3%. There are many other stock market indices that have performed worse. The German DAX has fallen by 3.5%, the French CAC 40 is down 4.2%, the S&P 500 has lost 5.6%, and the Brazilian Ibovespa has dropped by 8.6%.
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Stock market indices 2022
| Index | Jan, Feb, March | April, May, June | July, Aug, Sept | Oct | Nov | 1 to 18 Dec | Year-to-date |
| FTSE 100 | 1.8% | -4.6% | -3.8% | 2.9% | 6.7% | -3.2% | -0.7% |
| FTSE 250 | -9.9% | -11.8% | -8.0% | 4.2% | 7.1% | -3.0% | -20.8% |
| Dow Jones Ind Ave | -4.6% | -11.3% | -6.7% | 14.0% | 5.7% | -4.8% | -9.4% |
| S&P 500 | -4.9% | -16.4% | -5.3% | 8.0% | 5.4% | -5.6% | -19.2% |
| NASDAQ | -9.1% | -22.4% | -4.1% | 3.9% | 4.4% | -6.6% | -31.6% |
| DAX | -9.3% | -11.3% | -5.2% | 9.4% | 8.6% | -3.5% | -12.5% |
| CAC40 | -6.9% | -11.1% | -2.7% | 8.8% | 7.5% | -4.2% | -9.8% |
| Nikkei 225 | -3.4% | -5.1% | -1.7% | 6.4% | 1.4% | -1.6% | -4.4% |
| Hang Seng | -6.0% | -0.6% | -21.2% | -14.7% | 26.6% | 4.6% | -16.9% |
| Shanghai Composite | -10.6% | 4.5% | -11.0% | -4.3% | 8.9% | 0.5% | -13.0% |
| Sensex | 0.5% | -9.5% | 8.3% | 5.8% | 3.9% | -2.8% | 5.3% |
| Ibovespa | 14.5% | -17.9% | 11.7% | 5.5% | -3.1% | -8.6% | -1.9% |
Data source: Morningstar. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
All the stock market indices we track are currently lower than they were at the beginning of the year, apart from the Indian Sensex, which is up 5.3%.
Having made losses in the first three quarters of the year, most of these indices are still on track to make gains in the fourth quarter. The only one that is really struggling is the Brazilian Ibovespa. The leading index so far this quarter is the German DAX, which has risen by 14.7%. Then it is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has gone up by 14.6%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng, up 12.9%, and the French CAC 40, which has returned 12%.
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Most of the leading funds in the final quarter of this year are currently from the three European sectors: Europe including the UK, Europe excluding UK, and European Smaller Companies.
Here are the top 20 based on their returns from the beginning of October until the end of last week.
Leading funds since 1 October 2022
| Fund Name | Investment Association sector | % Return | |||
| Oct 2022 | Nov 2022 | 1 to 18 Dec | 1 Oct to 18 Dec | ||
| Schroder European Recovery | Europe Excluding UK | 9.2 | 8.3 | -1.6 | 16.4 |
| LF Brook Continental European | Europe Excluding UK | 8.7 | 8.3 | -2.5 | 14.8 |
| M&G European Sustain Paris Aligned | Europe Including UK | 6.1 | 8.3 | -0.5 | 14.3 |
| Schroder UK Mid 250 | UK All Companies | 7.2 | 10.2 | -3.2 | 14.3 |
| Janus Henderson European Smaller Companies | European Smaller Companies | 6.7 | 8.0 | -1.2 | 13.8 |
| Premier Miton UK Value Opportunities | UK All Companies | 5.7 | 9.3 | -1.6 | 13.7 |
| Invesco European Smaller Companies | European Smaller Companies | 5.5 | 8.1 | -0.4 | 13.6 |
| LF Lightman European | Europe Excluding UK | 6.3 | 8.2 | -1.4 | 13.5 |
| L&G Future World Sustainable European Equity Focus | Europe Excluding UK | 4.4 | 8.7 | -0.2 | 13.3 |
| FTF Martin Currie UK Mid Cap | UK All Companies | 7.2 | 8.4 | -2.5 | 13.3 |
| Barings German Growth | Specialist | 6.6 | 8.2 | -2.1 | 13.0 |
| abrdn European Smaller Companies | European Smaller Companies | 4.2 | 8.4 | -0.1 | 12.9 |
| Artemis UK Select | UK All Companies | 5.9 | 9.8 | -3.0 | 12.8 |
| Aviva Investors UK Listed Small & Mid Cap | UK All Companies | 5.9 | 9.6 | -2.8 | 12.8 |
| Artemis SmartGARP European Equity | Europe Excluding UK | 8.7 | 5.6 | -1.7 | 12.8 |
| Royal London UK Mid-Cap Growth | UK All Companies | 5.7 | 9.8 | -2.9 | 12.8 |
| Unicorn UK Income | UK Equity Income | 2.6 | 10.9 | -1.1 | 12.6 |
| Baillie Gifford European | Europe Excluding UK | 3.9 | 10.2 | -1.7 | 12.6 |
| Allianz Continental European | Europe Excluding UK | 5.9 | 8.9 | -2.4 | 12.6 |
| BlackRock Continental Euro | Europe Excluding UK | 6.1 | 8.3 | -2.1 | 12.5 |
Data source: Morningstar. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Although the overall returns are pretty good, the best fund is up 16.4% in less than three months, all these funds have fallen this month.
The leading funds in December are currently from the China/Greater China sector. As I mentioned last week, the sector had a terrible October, losing 17.2%, but rebounded in November. The funds from this sector have continued to perform well in December, when most others are going down.
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