Morningstar Announces Winners for 2021 UK Fund Manager of the Year Awards

September 10, 2021

LONDON, 10 September 2021—Morningstar UK Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced the winners of its 2021 Fund Manager of the Year Awards.

Now in their 15th year, the awards recognise and celebrate the best of the UK fund management profession who are selected by Morningstar’s Manager Research analysts. The awards have three categories: Outstanding Fund Manager, Rising Talent, and Outstanding Investment House.

The awards draw from Morningstar’s qualitative forward-looking fund rating system, the Morningstar Analyst Rating™ for funds. Morningstar assigns the Analyst Rating to funds that analysts qualitatively assess, typically through manager interviews and other sources. That assessment turns on People, Process, Parent. Performance and Price —with the rating reflecting how well the analysts expect the fund to perform after fees, while also taking risk into account.

The 2021 winners are: 

Outstanding Fund Manager 

  • Austin Forey, JPM Emerging Markets / JPMorgan Emerging Markets Trust

Rising Talent 

  • Gordon Fraser, BlackRock Emerging Markets 

Outstanding Investment House 

  • J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Jonathan Miller, Director of UK Manager Research for Morningstar, comments: “Morningstar seeks to help investors by providing solutions and advice with the long-term in mind. Throughout the judging process, our manager research team focused on what they believe matters most to retail investors and advisers. A strong risk-adjusted profile, with a process our analysts believe is repeatable, are hallmarks to identifying standout managers.”

“We are pleased to announce J.P. Morgan’s Austin Forey as the winner of the prestigious Outstanding Fund Manager Award. We look to this category to identify the manager we see as remarkable, both in terms of style and approach, who stood above peers with exceptional returns over the longer term. Forey is head of the JPMorgan global emerging markets fundamental team and boasts 34 years' experience in the industry, over 25 of them in emerging markets. He has delivered an exceptional long-term track record over his tenure.”

A video interview with Austin Forey is available on Morningstar.co.uk here

Gordon Fraser, manager of BlackRock Emerging Markets, is the winner of our Rising Talent Award. Featuring fund managers with relatively shorter experience managing their funds, this category is intended to highlight an individual who has made a real mark on their respective portfolios and has potential to continue delivering strong returns for investors. Fraser took over this strategy in March 2017 and has successfully implemented his macroeconomic and country allocation framework.. He is a savvy and passionate investor andwith under five years at the helm has already made a number of sound top-down and bottom-up calls.” 

A video interview with Gordon Fraser is available on Morningstar.co.uk here

“This year’s winner of the Outstanding Investment House award is J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The firm’s strong investment culture, which shows through its long-tenured, well-aligned portfolio managers and deep analytical resources, supports its Above Average Parent rating. Across asset classes and regions, the firm's diverse line-up features many Morningstar Medalists. Additionally, the firm is building its ESG capabilities and some funds have soft closed, showing an alignment to investor interests.”

A video interview with JPMorgan’s Asset Management’s Patrick Thomson, CEO of EMEA, is available on Morningstar.co.uk here

The winners were revealed at an awards reception at The Barbican on 9th September. The list of finalists, announced 21 July, is available here

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

The Analyst Rating is Morningstar’s forward-looking, analyst-driven ratings system that takes the form of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. The Analyst Rating denotes an analyst’s conviction in a fund’s investment merits. Analysts typically re-evaluate Analyst Ratings on an annual basis. For more information about Morningstar’s manager research and ratings, please click here. Rating shown is for the most relevant clean share class only. Other share classes may carry a different rating, dependent on fees. Hedged share classes are typically excluded.

For more information about Morningstar Awards, visit https://go.morningstar.com/Morningstar-Awards and for more information on the Morningstar Awards Qualitative Methodology, please click here.

About Morningstar UK Limited and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $251 billion in assets under advisement and management as of 30 June 2021. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on Twitter @MorningstarInc

Analyst Ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar analysts’ current expectations about future events and therefore involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar’s expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees nor should they be viewed as an assessment of a fund’s or the fund’s underlying securities’ creditworthiness. This press release is for informational purposes only; it should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the mutual funds noted within.

Media Contact:
Mary Kenefake, +44 (0) 203 1941027 or [email protected]


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