Select 50: our favourite funds - selected by experts

More than 3,000 funds, ETFs and investment trusts are screened for performance, consistency and a range of other measures. It’s not just about which funds have performed well, but why and whether it is likely to be repeatable.

This analysis is backed up by many hours of face-to-face meetings, where fund managers and their teams are questioned to ensure their process and philosophy remains on the right track.

Funds that make it onto our exclusive list do so solely based on their investment merit. There are no other considerations. We believe this is the best way to ensure that Select 50 helps our customers find funds that could help them achieve their investment goals.

Select 50 is routinely updated every quarter, though funds may be removed at any point during the year. Changes can occur for a variety of reasons, such as developing a new view on a fund or deciding that a different fund is better placed to deliver investment outcomes. Please note that if a fund you own is removed from Select 50, we’re not recommending you sell it.

Newly added funds

Following the October 2024 review, no new funds were added to Select 50.

Following the July 2024 review, the following funds were added to Select 50:

• Barings Europe Select I GBP Acc
• Fidelity Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity Fund W Accumulation Shares
• Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies Fund Sterling Class B Dis 

Removed funds
 
Following the October 2024 review, the following fund was removed from Select 50:

• Balanced Commercial Property Trust

Following the July 2024 review, the following funds were removed from Select 50:

• Comgest Growth Europe
• Comgest Emerging Markets
• T Rowe Price US Smaller Companies
• Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust
• M&G Global Macro Bond Fund Sterling I Acc

Select 50 is designed to give you a wide range of funds to choose from, so the selection process starts with the investment categories that the funds deal in, including UK and US shares, real assets such as property, and various types of bond. Then the highest-quality funds are selected for each category, using a time-tested process.

This includes a ‘quantitative’ and a ‘qualitative’ analysis, both of which are described below. After these analyses are complete, a conclusion about the fund’s quality can be made.

Every fund on our website has a performance track record and this provides a rich source of data. This and other data are used to perform quantitative analysis. This may involve assessments of performance over different time frames and market conditions, looking at how the fund performs against peers and benchmarks, along with many other data-driven assessments.

From time to time, fund holdings will also be analysed. As well as helping narrow the fund list down, this type of analysis provides insights on other areas, such as how the fund is run, the consistency of the process, whether the manager is skilful and their approach to sustainability.

Qualitative analysis involves aspects such as meeting the key people involved in running the investment, asking them searching questions and studying the materials that accompany the fund. This is an important part of the research, as it can highlight areas a quantitative analysis may not see. For example, the quantitative analysis on a certain fund could be excellent, but the qualitative work might then uncover key personnel changes at the fund manager that could have an impact on performance in future.

Detailed qualitative due diligence is performed on Select 50 funds. During meetings with fund managers and the wider team, reviews will include the quality of the team, the investment philosophy, process consistency, if the fund managers invest in the fund, and how they are incentivised. These also assess how easily the funds can sell their holdings (a measure known as ‘liquidity’) and the sustainability credentials of the funds, together with detailed reviews of business structure, leadership and culture.

Select 50 is designed to be completely impartial. It includes funds from a range of fund managers and Fidelity is treated no differently to any other manager. Any funds selected are chosen on investment merit alone.

We partner with Fundhouse, an independent fund research company, to add independence and enhance our fund selection process.

No, the fund selection process for Select 50 is completely investment-led. There are no commercial considerations. While we believe cost is an important consideration when deciding whether to invest in a fund, we select funds for the list solely according to their investment merits.