The funds for consistent returns – Update February 2026

The fund management industry promotes the idea of buying and holding actively managed funds for the long-term. Yet you are more likely to make more money by regularly reviewing your portfolio. In reality the reason why fund managers want you to stay invested with them is that it allows them to make more money from you via fund management charges.

However, I understand that there are times when you might not want to or can't switch your funds as often as you might want. For example, you may have a pension scheme that offers a limited choice of funds or restricts the number of switches you can perform. Or it may be that you like to have a core stable selection of funds in your portfolio around which you invest more actively in order to try to boost returns.

A number of years ago I carried out a piece of research aiming to identify funds for consistent returns. It focused on identifying funds that have consistently outperformed their peers over time, which aren't just focused on capital preservation. So I've gone back and refreshed the research, as I do periodically.

Long-term outperformance screen

It's a fact that 90% of fund managers fail to beat the market over the long term which has been shown by numerous pieces of research. Yet there are a few that have. However, judging overperformance or underperformance based on an arbitrary time frame can give a skewed result.

So instead I decided to analyse the performance of every unit trust and investment trust out there (over 1,600 of them) versus each other over multiple time frames to produce a shortlist. I only shortlisted those funds that outperformed the average of their peer group (sector) over the following time periods:

• 1 year
• 3 years
• 5 years
• 10 years

Then to include an element of consistency the funds also had to show a similar level of outperformance in each of the last 5 years.

I also wanted to make sure that they were genuinely beating the market rather than simply doing better than their dud peers. So I also added a few screens which give an indication of fund manager skill. This would limit the likelihood that a fund manager had simply managed any outperformance by taking excessive risks in a rising market. These additional screens were namely:

Alpha

Alpha is a figure which measures a manager’s apparent skill at picking winning investments versus their benchmark. Alpha is the excess return versus the return of a fund’s benchmark (i.e. the market). So a fund with a positive alpha indicates that the fund manager has outperformed through skill. While a negative alpha figure would indicate underperformance.

Sharpe ratio

The sharpe ratio is not a widely known statistic yet it indicates how much extra return a fund manager has achieved for the increased risk they have taken. There is nothing wrong with fund managers taking calculated investment risks if they result in additional returns for investors. So the higher a fund’s sharpe ratio the better.

Maximum Drawdown

Finally, I analysed how the funds had performed over the last 3 years and what the maximum fall during the period was for each fund. I then only included those with the lowest drawdowns versus their peers. 80-20 Investor tables include the drawdown figure (Max Fall) as it is useful but not published widely.

80-20 Investor algorithm screen

The above screening left 63 funds (out of over 1,200 unit trusts and 450 investment trusts) which have shown a consistency of return over the medium to long-term (in various market conditions), yet doing so without taking unnecessary risk. This is by far the largest list of 'consistent funds' that I've ever produced (the previous largest number was 39) and 15 funds have retained their place on the list from June 2025 (and are in bold). Remember, consistency doesn't mean that the fund doesn't lose money in a market slump, but that it has shown a consistent level of outperformance versus its peers over time.

The funds in blue are in the current BOTB, while the funds in orange are in the BFBS tables (as of 13th Feb 2026). It's good to see Man Japan Core Alpha in the list as I hold it in my own £50k portfolio.

Name	Sector	ISIN Code	1 month return %	3 month return %	6 month return %	Max weekly fall in the last 6 months	Ongoing Charge	Investment trust (discount /premium)
M&G Asian	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B7DBH187	5.17	7.67	24.69	-2.75	0.83
Schroder Asian Income	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B5BJ7M17	6.86	11.2	24.68	-3.83	0.9
Fidelity Index Europe ex UK	Europe Excluding UK	GB00BHZK8B07	2.47	7.77	14.74	-2.5	0.1
JPM JPM Europe (ex-UK) ESG Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B235HP90	3.86	10	15.09	-2.55	0.61
Liontrust European Dynamic	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B4ZM1M76	4.19	11.65	16.04	-3.41	0.84
Invesco European Smaller Companies (UK)	European Smaller Companies	GB00B3RS8361	1.01	3.94	-1.75	-8.17	1.05
Barclays Global Markets Adventurous	Flexible Investment	GB00B4YPY060	-0.06	0.88	8.97	-2.54	0.45
Invesco Managed Growth (UK)	Flexible Investment	GB00B3RSB597	1.15	2.8	8.67	-3.07	1.27
Jupiter Merlin Growth Portfolio	Flexible Investment	GB0003629267	3.19	7.15	13.9	-2.51	2.27
M&G Managed Growth	Flexible Investment	GB00B71RLN80	1.79	4.97	12.77	-2.52	0.88
Allianz Best Styles Global AC Equity	Global	GB00BYQ91X80	1.33	4	15.73	-2.83	0.33
Aviva Inv International Index Tracking	Global	GB0004459912	0.74	2.89	11.72	-3.37	0.44
Fidelity Index World	Global	GB00BJS8SJ34	0.19	1.22	10.29	-4.17	0.12
Jupiter Merian Global Equity	Global	GB00B1XG8F22	0.37	3.59	13.28	-3	1.25
Schroder QEP Global Core	Global	GB00B5310487	0.71	1.22	10.79	-4.24	0.3
Scottish Widows Global Growth	Global	GB0031609786	1.96	4.76	13.74	-3.14	0.87
Thornbridge MI Thornbridge Global Opportunities	Global	GB00B5TP8W88	-0.44	1.81	10.41	-2.2	0.91
Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index	Global	GB00B59G4Q73	-0.24	0.91	10.23	-2.99	0.14
AXA US Short Duration High Yield Bond	Global Bonds	GB00B59VLT43	0.29	1.7	2.91	-0.18	0.75
CT Global Total Return Bond (GBP Hedged)	Global Bonds	GB0033145482	0.83	2.29	4.04	-0.37	0.25
Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity	Global Emerging Markets	GB00BW9HL132	6.28	10.73	27.05	-4.21	0.86
Invesco Global Emerging Markets (UK)	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B3RW7S64	5.32	9.35	25.39	-3.1	1.2
Lazard Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B24F1G74	7.55	11.88	28.32	-2.17	1.04
M&G Global Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B6TDBH53	6.12	9.64	27.7	-2.87	1
M&G Japan	Japan	GB00B7MTFH57	8.6	13.38	25.2	-4.48	0.72
Man Japan Core Alpha	Japan	GB00B0119B50	11.14	19.35	28.62	-2.88	0.9
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	13.09	21.65	31.74	-2.53	1.18
Liontrust Latin America	Latin America	GB00B909HH53	11.98	16.15	33.89	-5.2	0.89
L&G Mixed Investment 0-35%	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00B8KRCM23	1.12	2.32	5.38	-1.09	0.44
L&G Mixed Investment Income 0-35%	Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares	GB00BYW6BT91	1.01	2.49	4.97	-0.68	0.46
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	4.39	9.51	14.79	-1.96	0.84
Close TrinityBridge Conservative Managed	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B45DZX99	2.09	5.1	9.9	-1.54	0.98
M&G Episode Allocation	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B7FPWG84	1.29	2.83	8.98	-1.72	0.9
Premier Miton Cautious Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B7T13474	5.05	8.62	15.83	-1.74	0.86
M&G Episode Growth	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB00B7MY3T81	1.99	4.19	12.24	-2.32	0.9
CT North American Equity	North America	GB0033142810	-1.45	-0.65	6.07	-3.71	0.08
Fidelity Index US	North America	GB00BJS8SH10	-1.19	-1.12	8.5	-4.7	0.06
AXA Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B1Z48Z43	-0.23	1.38	3.63	-1.03	0.56
L&G Active Short Dated Sterling Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B89QL129	0.25	1.37	3	-0.26	0.42
Royal London Corporate Bond	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B87FJ401	0.12	1.77	4.23	-0.59	0.56
Royal London Corporate Bond Monthly Income Trust	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB0033583427	0.06	1.66	3.92	-0.54	0.64
Royal London Sterling Credit	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00B8GJ8S05	0.12	1.86	4.44	-0.54	0.53
Invesco High Yield (UK)	Sterling High Yield	GB00B3RW7649	0.41	2.25	4.6	-0.71	0.74
Artemis High Income	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B2PLJN71	0.8	2.34	4.36	-1.13	0.72
Invesco Monthly Income Plus (UK)	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B1W7J204	0.47	1.71	3.61	-0.93	0.87
Royal London Short Duration Credit	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BJ4KW800	0.68	2.22	4.24	-0.58	0.35
abrdn UK All Share Tracker	UK All Companies	GB00B61C0396	2.61	6.47	14.27	-2.47	0.23
CT FTSE All-Share Tracker	UK All Companies	GB0033138248	2.62	6.48	14.3	-2.46	0.08
HSBC FTSE All Share Index	UK All Companies	GB0000424886	2.63	6.46	14.21	-2.42	0.17
iShares 100 UK Equity Index (UK)	UK All Companies	GB00B7W4GQ69	2.72	6.46	15.18	-2.35	0.06
iShares UK Equity Index	UK All Companies	GB00B7C44X99	2.66	6.63	14.37	-3.02	0.05
Janus Henderson Inst UK Equity Tracker Trust	UK All Companies	GB0004489455	2.65	6.46	14.32	-2.47	0.29
JOHCM JOHCM UK Dynamic	UK All Companies	GB00B4T7HR59	5.86	8.84	15.79	-3.87	0.82
JPM UK Equity Core	UK All Companies	GB00B55QSH09	3.05	7.35	15.58	-2.28	0.31
M&G Index Tracker	UK All Companies	GB0031110959	2.63	6.41	14.09	-2.49	0.45
Man Undervalued Assets Fund	UK All Companies	GB00BFH3NC99	4.52	9.07	15.64	-3.5	0.9
Vanguard FTSE U.K. All Share Index Unit Trust	UK All Companies	GB00B3X7QG63	2.76	6.89	14.28	-1.63	0.06
Schroder Income Maximiser	UK Equity Income	GB00B5B0KM51	2.65	6.35	12.84	-2.15	0.91
Aberforth UK Small Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB0000072727	4.09	8.95	6.78	-5.55	0.81
JPM JPMorgan European Growth & Income plc	Europe (Investment trust)	GB00BPR9Y246	2.42	11.44	21.07	-2.93	0.2	-0.44
Invesco Global Equity Income Trust plc	Global Equity Income (Investment trust)	GB00B1DQ6472	0.09	3.36	6.01	-8.16		1.29
Schroder Investment Management Ltd Schroder Japan Trust plc	Japan (Investment trust)	GB0008022849	9.06	19.08	33.83	-3.87	1.14	-2.53
Fidelity (FIL Invt Intl) Fidelity Special Values	UK All Companies (Investment trust)	GB00BWXC7Y93	5.31	12.98	19.37	-3.7	0.68	0.98

 

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