Large funds outperform

As popular funds get bigger, many worry that the size will hurt performance. However, stats from Lipper show that among open-ended funds more than half of those portfolios with more than £800m in assets have outperformed their respective peer group averages at least three out of past five calendar years, with 25% outpacing their peers in each discrete period, including the two largest funds - Anthony Bolton's Fidelity Special Situations and Neil Woodford's High Income.

Large investment trusts on the whole underperform their respective peer groups whereas open-ended funds show a greater amount of outperformance. In fact, open-ended funds with £800m plus in assets categorically disprove the argument that a manager will struggle once a portfolio reaches a certain size. Of the 56 retail funds in the UK funds universe, looking across all fund sectors, with more than £800m in assets, 25% have beaten their respective sector averages in each discrete 12 month period over the past five years. This compares to just one investment trust out of 12 of that size that...