Investment season review

The domestic champions are AB Foods who lead the FTSE100 since the season began.

In stark contrast to big-spending Manchester City, it is their budget player, Primark, which has driven them to the top of the table.

The overachiever, the Southampton if you will, were the mid-sized companies, who have outperformed their larger counterparts since August last year, and by considerably more so if we extend that to a calendar year.

Rather like Southampton, the FTSE250 companies rely more on home grown players to drive their performance than their larger, more globally-interested FTSE100 peers.

Mid-table mediocrity goes to the bonds.

The IBOXX index of corporate bonds has returned a princely 0.2 per cent this season.

But, like a Stoke City for instance, the avoidance of capitulation and a worry-free end to the season is just fine and should be regarded as an acceptable result.

Both have come a long way in the last few years, and can be given leeway for an average season; indeed an average season is a good season.

Every league season throws up the underachievers.

Casting aside Manchester United for a second, this honour inescapably falls to Aston Villa, who embody those who have previously tasted success, and who will come again, but are for now sailing rather too close to the wind.

There have been a few Villas this year.

I’m thinking of the emerging markets, hit by both the tapering of QE and a slowdown in China.

I’m also thinking of mining stocks, who are adapting to an environment of lower demand and lower prices, and one where they can’t be so profligate.

But I will give the honour here to Tesco.

I believe they will have their time again, but for now they are scrapping at the wrong end of the table.

There have been several high profile managerial casualties, although contrary to the way Premier League managers seem to depart their clubs (inevitably and misleadingly by mutual consent), the high profile managerial departures in the investment world have seen fund managers and executives going on their own terms.

Neil Woodford, the darling of the UK fund management industry, and probably most akin to Pep Guardiola in terms of the esteem in which he is held, left Invesco to start his own investment boutique.

Cormac Weldon exited Threadneedle for Artemis, and on the corporate side, Justin King, the man credited with the rejuvenation of Sainsbury, announced he will step down in July.

Every industry tends to have at least one dynastic godfather, and this year saw the retirement of Anthony Bolton, formerly in the hot seat at Fidelity Special Situations and owner of a performance record to match anything Sir Alex Ferguson produced.

Bolton’s tenure as the manager at Fidelity Special Situations exceeded Fergie’s at Manchester United by two years, although Fergie went out at the top, while Bolton’s twilight years as overseer of a China-focussed trust was ultimately positive but anticlimactic.

Let’s not forget the awards.

The Golden Boot goes to the thousands who have given Royal Mail shares the boot since they started trading, making a rather nice short term profit in doing so.

Finally, I will give Young Player of the Year to Wilton-based Applied Graphene Materials, whose debut stock market season has to date produced stellar returns as graphene has captured investor imagination unlike any other recent innovation.

Nick Williams is an assistant director at Brewin Dolphin and offers advice on a wide range of financial services to private clients, trusts, charities and pension funds. He can be contacted on 0191-230-7151. All prices quoted in the article are from public sources. The views expressed are not necessarily held throughout the Brewin Dolphin Group. You should bear in mind that no investment is suitable for all circumstances and it is important to seek expert advice if in any doubt. Brewin Dolphin Limited is a member of the London Stock Exchange, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.