Continuing our look at AAA-rated managers of sub-$100m funds, we make our way across the globe in the Mixed Assets asset class, focusing on the US, Europe and the UK.

Manager (rating): Nancy Rogers and Rob Stewart (AAA)

Fund: BNY Mellon Sustainable Balanced

AUM: $13m

Sector: Flexible – USD

Three-year total return: 5.6%

Registered for sale in: US

Leading the charge are BNY Mellon Investment Management’s Nancy Rogers and Rob Stewart, co-managers of the BNY Mellon Sustainable Balanced fund, launched in 2017.

Rogers has worked at BNY Mellon companies since 1987, including as portfolio manager at both Standish and Mellon Bond Associates. Stewart (pictured above) has been at BNY Mellon for 19 years and is due to retire this year. Rogers and Stewart have managed the fund since 2019 and currently do so alongside David Nieman and Nick Pope, since 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The fund has fluctuated between $11m and $16m over the past three years. It invests in more than 500 different holdings, including Apple (2.57%) and Microsoft (2.39%). More than 400 of its holdings are from the US, ranging from company stock to US Treasury bonds.

Rogers and Stewart have held AAA ratings since April due to the fund’s performance. The fund’s 5.6% return over the past three years is more than double the sector’s manager average of 2.1%. It ranks them 116th out of 317 qualifying managers.

Manager (rating): Christian Mariais (AAA)

Fund: Twenty First Capital Exclusif 21

AUM: $44.1m

Sector: Mixed Assets – Flexible EUR

Three-year total return: 28.5%.

Registered for sale in: France, Luxembourg

Heading over to Europe, we focus on managers from two firms. Christian Mariais is the manager of Twenty First Capital Exclusif 21 (since 2016), alongside Tom Dussaussois (since 2021) who is currently ineligible for a Citywire rating.

Mariais started his career at Oddo in 1975 before then joining both Rothschild and Bryan Garnier Asset Management, the latter where he launched the BG Exclusif fund, which he brought over to his current role at Twenty First Capital.

Mariais, an AAA-rated manager for two consecutive months, ranks 11th of 816 qualifying managers in the Mixed Assets – Flexible EUR sector with a return of 28.5%. That puts it well above the average of a 0.9% loss.

Manager (rating): Hans Günter Schiefen (AAA)

Fund: Incrementum All Seasons

AUM: $93.1m

Sector: Mixed Assets – Balanced EUR

Three-year total return: 51.6%

Registered for sale in: Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein

The second fund in Europe comes from Incrementum Liechtenstein and manager Hans Günter Schiefen. Schiefen has been the sole manager of the Incrementum All Seasons fund since its launch in 2019. He earned his first AAA rating in October this year because of his 51.6% three-year return, giving him the first-place spot in the Mixed Assets – Balanced EUR sector, out of 529 qualifying managers.

Schiefen began his career with Deutsche Bank in 1991 before moving to HSBC Trinkaus in 1997. From there he moved to LGT in 2003 before ending up at Incrementum in June 2019. The fund’s AUM has been steadily climbing over the past three years, from $40m in November 2019, to $50.2m in November 2020, and $61.5m in November 2021.

It invests in exchange-traded funds such as Amundi Physical Gold ETC (6.85%) and WisdomTree Physical Silver ETC (2.66%), companies such as Pacific Basin Shipping (2.48%) and Belships (2.39%), and bonds such as US Treasury notes 2.625% (2.26%). The fund is heavily invested in North America, with more than half of its equity in Canada and the US.

Manager (rating): Joseph Mouawad (AAA)

Fund: FP Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine

AUM: $23.2m

Sector: Mixed Assets – Emerging Markets

Three-year total return: -4.7%

Registered for sale in: UK

Finally, we end up in France, but for a fund available in the UK, with Joseph Mouawad’s FP Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine. The fund is his only to be under the $100m threshold.

It previously reached a high of $41.8m AUM in June 2021 but is back to around where it was three years ago. The fund has fewer than 100 holdings from various countries, mostly in countries such as China and South Korea. The fund’s holdings include government bonds, corporate bonds and consumer equities.

It holds 0.13% of its assets in Russia. Carmignac said: ‘The fund’s Russian exposure predates the invasion of Ukraine. This year, we have gradually reduced our exposure as market conditions allow. The fund no longer holds any Russian sovereign debt.’

Although the fund’s three-year returns are -4.7%, this still ranks sixth of the 25 funds in the Mixed Assets – Emerging Markets sector.

Mouawad (pictured) manages the fund alongside Xavier Hovasse. Mouawad joined Carmignac in 2015 after working at Barclays Capital, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Caxton. Mouawad also manages the $344m Carmignac Portfolio Emerging Patrimoine fund – the Sicav version of FP Carmignac Emerging Patrimoine – and the $108m Carmignac Portfolio EM Debt fund.