Phillips & Drew tops pension performance table

The shake-out in technology stocks has vaulted Phillips & Drew to the top of the pension fund managers' performance tables as the firm's "value investor" approach finally paid off.

The shake-out in technology stocks has vaulted Phillips & Drew to the top of the pension fund managers' performance tables as the firm's "value investor" approach finally paid off.

The meteoric rise, up from 63rd out of 67 funds in the previous quarter, will be ironic for Tony Dye, the firm's former investment director who quit in March after the group's cautious approach to technology stocks had left the firm's funds languishing at the bottom of the performance charts.

He may have felt a vindication of sorts yesterday as the latest figures from the Combined Actuarial Performance Service (Caps), showed P&D's flagship managed exempt fund recorded a return of 6.4 per cent. This put it ahead of Bank of Ireland (3.6 per cent) and Ely Fund Mangers (2.8 per cent).

However, the poor returns on P&D's main fund still puts it 63rd out of 67 funds over the last 12 months and 56th over five years.

P&D said yesterday that it has not changed its investment approach since Mr Dye's departure. A spokesperson said: "Our commitment to value investing remains, though there have been changes in the processes. We have used the weaknesses in telecoms, media and technology (TMT) stocks to buy selectively. But P&D still thinks most technology stocks are overvalued."

The volatility in the TMT stocks has turned the performance tables upside down in the past quarter.

According to Caps, nine out of the top 10 funds from the first quarter appear in the bottom in the second quarter. Eight of the bottom 10 funds in the first quarter are now in the top half.

Bottom of the pile was Fuji-Lord Abbett, which fell by 14.8 per cent after coming top with 14.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

Technology stocks fell by 20.1 per cent in the quarter with telecoms stocks slumping 23.8 per cent.

By contrast, Old Economy sectors like forestry and paper and tobacco recorded huge gains.