Tuesday 05 February 2019 11:58 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 1:46 am

Best and worst performing income funds of 2018 revealed

Investment firm Sanlam UK has revealed the biggest winners and losers in its annual study ranking income funds.

The Troy Trojan Income Fund, run by Francis Brooke jumped 37 positions to take the top position, followed by the Axa Framlington Monthly Income Fund and the Miton UK Multi Cap Income Fund, it was announced today.

Chelverton UK Equity Income Fund dropped 39 places from the White List of best performing funds to the Black List of underperforming funds after suffering from stock specific issues in the small and mid-cap space.

However the UBS UK Equity Income Fund was at the bottom of the list, according to Sanlam’s research which measures the performance of all UK equity income funds over a six-month period.

The income study, which has been running for more than 30 years, judges absolute income generated over five calendar years, capital growth for the past five 12-month periods and volatility over the past five years.

Sanlam UK chief investment officer Philip Smeaton said: “Managers of funds appearing in the Sanlam UK Income Study’s White List have produced the leading performances in our analysis which is based on measurements of income, growth, and volatility over a five-year period.

“As a result of sector concentration, traditional equity income funds that have tended to allocate disproportionately to sectors with the highest dividend yields may contain a hidden risk for investors.

“Most managers of those funds appearing at the top of our study have the ability to vary the size of their underlying positions according to where they see the best opportunities. Such a flexible approach enables managers to respond to prevailing market conditions over the short to medium term.”