Veteran Scottish fund manager Harry Nimmo – who has backed some of the stock market’s most successful small firms of the last 20 years - has topped a league table for delivering bumper returns for investors in 2019.
The Aberdeen Standard Investments UK Smaller Companies fund he runs was named the best performing fund by analysts at financial data firm Morningstar.
The fund has delivered returns of 35.2% in the year to date with £1,000 invested at the start of the year growing to £1,352.
Morningstar analyst Samuel Meakin said the fund remains “a standout choice for investors”. “The two main reasons are its stable investment approach and the manager’s long tenure and strong track record – Harry Nimmo has run the fund since 1997.
“Nimmo uses a quantitative screening to identify companies with sustainable long-term growth prospects, proven business models and recurring earnings,” he said.
Nimmo’s most successful investments of late include JD Sports, the retail chain behind Tiso in Scotland. He has regularly been one of the top performing fund managers over the past 20 years and has delivered bumper returns for investors from backing shares in early stage companies such as Asos before they rocketed.
Three Baillie Gifford managed funds also make it into the top ten - Baillie Gifford International (up 27.2%), Global Discovery (up 27%) and its Global Alpha fund (up 26.8%).
At the bottom of the performance league table is the Jupiter Absolute Return fund which has suffered a 7% loss in the year to date.
Nimmo also runs the Standard Life UK Smaller Companies trust which is named at 5 in Morningstar’s league table of top investment trusts for 2019 so far with a return of 38%.
