To be eligible you need to have been a finalist or shortlisted in more than one category.

Consistently performing across the product suite and passing a range of qualitative criteria, covering corporate and investment governance, philosophy and process, portfolio construction and implementation, risk management, and (of course) fees, are the prerequisite to get onto this list.

As always, it was a very close race to the finish this year with strong performance and representation across multiple sectors by our finalists.

Retirement savings is increasingly important possibly the only investment for many Kiwis into a managed fund.

KiwiSaver continues to grow and as of December this year has undergone its second major restructure of the default provider process. While the growth of new KiwiSaver accounts is less critical, every little bit helps in a very competitive marketplace. Managers in this sector also play an important role in educating Kiwi’s on the value of saving and investing.

There is a funds under management link to the Boutique Fund Manager of the Year Award. At Research IP, we feel this is an important part of the market to recognise, however it is becoming increasingly difficult because of the significant inflows and market performance that the industry has seen.

Our awards recognise FMOTY, but we feel it is also important to recognise the managers that consistently deliver strong risk adjusted returns over the longer term.

Responsible investing has been upgraded to a major category for 2021, with the award recognising the manager that demonstrates the most commitment to responsible investing and its benefit to stakeholders.

Greenwashing and token signatories to either the UNPRI or bodies like the RIAA will no longer cut the mustard. ESG is not new. The focus of Research IP is the evolution to sustainability and impact, the transition to carbon neutral and the important role capital must play in keeping the lights on yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Adviser Choice was initiated in 2019 in an attempt to make Fund Manager Awards a more inclusive process. The awards continue to prove popular for the third year running. I’d like to congratulate those managers who have clearly been very active in promoting their strategies in the adviser choice category. The following managers received the most individual votes in each of the respective categories.