Fundsmith tops Morningstar medalist rankings but misses maximum rating

Fundsmith has retained its top spot by percentage of Morningstar medalist share classes but missed out on achieving the highest parent pillar rating available.

In Morningstar's annual Fund Family 100 report, the firm said the asset manager stands as an "example of an investment boutique that is well-placed for investment excellence".

Fundsmith has just two strategies, the Fundsmith Equity fund and the Fundsmith Sustainable Investment fund, and they follow the same investment philosophy and process. 

Key personnel are heavily invested in the funds they run, making them "well-aligned" with investors' interests, however, the firm scored 'above average' on the parent pillar rating, missing out on the maximum 'high' designation.

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The rating assesses five pillars Morningstar believes can predict the future success of strategies and their associated vehicles, namely people, parent, process, performance and price.

Storebrand Fonder, Vanguard, Ruffer and FSSA Investments all feature in the top five funds under this metric.

Among the 20 firms with the highest percentage of Morningstar Medalist share classes, 13 receive a parent pillar rating of above average or high. 

The maximum rating of high has been awarded to Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Wellington Management, Dimensional, MFS and Degroof Petercam.

Within the five largest fund families, BlackRock ranks first, where iShares still has the most assets under management. Together, the group manages over €1.2trn and earns an above average parent rating.

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BlackRock is followed in size by UBS, which has overtaken its French rival Amundi as a result of its recent acquisition of Credit Suisse. Amundi now has 47% of its assets in passive strategies, owing to the takeover of Lyxor in 2022.

Morningstar also has a Sustainability Rating, referred to as the "globe rating", which is a quantitative measure of the financially material ESG risks in a portfolio relative to its Morningstar category peer group.

The top 20 firms ranked by the percentage of funds that earn four and five globes include five positively rated parents: Comgest, Ruffer, Storebrand Fonder, Thesis and Kempen. 

Also in the list is BNP Paribas, which earns an ESG commitment level of advanced owing to its sustainable investing "consistently featuring at the core of [its] strategic plan of becoming a sustainability leader, and the firm has ramped up its efforts in several key areas", according to the Morningstar report.

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Thomas De Fauw, manager research analyst at Morningstar and author of the report, said: "It is positive to see that among the firms with the highest percentage of Morningstar Medalist share classes, many receive a parent pillar rating of above average or high. 

"We hope reports such as this help asset managers continue to strive for excellence in their practice, strategy, philosophy and process.

"ESG investing remains top of mind for many European fund houses. Among the top 100 fund families, the average share of Article 8 or 9 funds in the product offering rose to around 45% from 38% a year ago."