The Morningstar Fund Awards 2016 were presented on Thursday evening at a ceremony held at the Centre Culturel Scheiss in Luxembourg city in front of an audience of around 130 people active in the funds industry in the Grand Duchy.
John Baker of Morningstar in Luxembourg was the evening's MC, with Hermen Molendijk, Head of Business Development & Operations at Morningstar Benelux, introducing the evening. He explained that these awards are just one of such awards events organised by Morningstar around the world each year, and this event celebrates a great year in investment and, in particular, Luxembourg's fund market. He reviewed 2015 which saw a 30% increase in assets under management for Luxembourg. Morningstar BeNeLux itself saw a 12% growth last year. He mentioned that Morningstar is entering the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) area which will focus on the sustainability of investment funds: the methodology is to be announced next week.
Bob Kneip, CEO at Kneip, sponsor of the event, addressed the attendees and talked about investing in technology and creating value for stakeholders, with Luxembourg taking the lead in socially-responsible investments. As well as government initiatives, it takes private initiatives to promote sustainable investing, with employees also becoming much more aware of their companies making a social impact.
Dr Lor Kim Song was invited onto the stage to present the charity SOS Cambodian Kids which provides access to health services in the South-East Asian country to underprivileged children and adults by providing a number of projects, including building a dam, providing drinking water wells, offering basic medical facilities, and more. The charity believes that they will make a big difference to the country. They brought branded products for sale at the event to help raise funds.
San Lie, Head of Research at Morningstar Benelux, explained the methodology applied to determining the nominees and winners, enabling them to apply both qualitative and quantatuve methodology in the process; returns are considered over 1 and 5 years, with risk also analysed. He showed how global flows slowed down considerably last year, with equities very popular. Indexed products in the US received most inflows, with the opposite true for Europe. Overall, funds with a higher percentage of active shares show better returns.
The winners of the Morningstar Fund Awards 2016 are listed below per Category Awards and the Fund House Awards.
CATEGORY AWARDS
Best Global Equity Fund: ValueInvest LUX Global A Cap (ValueInvest Asset Management S.A.)
Best Europe Equity Fund: DNCA Invest Value Europe A (DNCA Finance Luxembourg)
Best EUR Fixed-Income Fund: BlackRock Global Funds - Euro Bond Fund A2 (BlackRock (Luxembourg) SA),
Best EUR Allocation Fund: Multi Opportunities (Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Investment S.A.)
FUND HOUSE AWARDS
Best Fund House: Equity: First State (no attendee to collect the award)
Best Fund House: Fixed-Income: AXA Investment Managers
Best Fund House: Multi-Asset: T. Rowe Price
Photos by Geoff Thompson - for full photo album (on Facebook), click here.
