Roger Aitken, analyst, interprets the November 2014 data

Robeco Indian Equities D EUR Acc, a £19.64m fund, top ranked amongst UK Registered funds over the past year to 31 October 2014 with a cumulative return of +36.51% versus +38.19%/73rd rank over the last three years. In second place over the past one-year was the £404.55m AXA Framlington Health R Inc fund, which posted +26.32%. However, its performance was stratospheric over the past three and five years at +90.42%/1st rank and +147.77%/1st, respectively. SUNARES lagged this sector comprising 246 funds over the past year on -13.54%, but was even worse over the last three years with -54.40%/233th rank.

In the US Mutual funds sector, which exhibited the best peer group average over three and five years at +43.83% and +75.70% respectively, the $681.65m VALIC Company II Socially Responsible fund top ranked over the past year with on +18.93% - versus +75.06%/12th rank over the last three years and +120.94%/21st over past five.

The top five performing funds in this sector over the past one year were extremely tightly bunched, ranging from +18.93% to +18.59%. The $650.87m Parnassus Endeavor Fund came in runner up spot over the last 12 months with +18.89% - versus +80.91%/6th over the past three years and +119.79%/23rd over last five. Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy, a $18.79m fund, bottom ranked this sector of 192 funds with -6.78% (+12.85%/160th over past three years/-34.28%/163rd over five). Among the 1,149 funds comprising the European Funds sector in Morningstar’s analysis, the top-five ranked €404.55m AXA Framlington Health R Acc fund proved a very robust and consistent performer over one-, three and five-year periods with performances of +36.38%, +110.01%/1st rank and +182.98%/1st, respectively.

MCO2 New Energy FEIF bottom ranked here over a past one-year horizon with -37.65% versus even worse performances of -70.05%/1,059th rank and -77.11%/913th over the past three and five years, respectively. Along with ERSTE Responsible Stock Austria T fund (-15.81%) these were the only two funds in the entire sector to post double-digit percentage losses over the past 12 months.

FL/AXA Framlington Health AP Pension fund again top ranked in the UK Individual pensions sector for the past one, three and five years on cumulative returns of +28.06%, +98.40% and +162.95%, respectively, and improved on its performance for all three periods to 30 September 2014. As a whole this sector posted the best peer group average return over the past year from the five sectors examined with +27.37%.