The Raging Bull Awards, which recognises the top-performing funds and managers in the collective investment industry and which has been an annual highlight on the industry calendar since the first ceremony in 1997, will emerge in a substantially changed form at next year’s event at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on January 27. Not only do the award categories differ from previous years, but so do the eligibility criteria for funds and the methodology for calculating risk-adjusted performance
Why the changes?
The changes in the awards were triggered by a change in data providers for the 2025 event. In starting afresh with new providers – international financial services software and data company Iress and the Apex Group’s fund data and analytics portal – Personal Finance, in consultation with Independent Newspapers’ marketing team and with input from the investment industry, decided to streamline the awards for the benefit of retail investors but also to encourage competition and the pursuit of excellence in the industry.
What has changed?
• Award categories: Since 2018, when some minor changes were made, the awards have consisted of 30 certificates, eight trophies, and awards for South African Manager of the Year (plus two runners-up) and Offshore Manager of the Year. Both certificate and trophy categories included awards for straight performance and risk-adjusted-performance. They also included awards for regulator-approved offshore asset managers that marketed their funds in South Africa.
The new format radically simplifies these categories – certificates are awarded for straight performance and trophies for risk-adjusted performance – and does away with awards for offshore managers: the focus is solely on the local industry. The certificates, reduced to 19, recognise straight performance over three years in categories that correspond closely with fund sub-categories in the new fund classification standard of the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa. The more prestigious trophies recognise the best funds on risk-adjusted performance over five years in eight broader geographical and asset-class categories.
The Manager of the Year awards have been reduced to the South African Manager of the Year and one runner-up. Asset managers are rated on their four top-performing funds in the eight risk-adjusted categories, with no two or more funds in the same category.
• Eligibility criteria: In another radical departure, the awards are now open to passively managed unit trusts and exchange-traded funds. While these funds, by their nature, do not aim to outperform a benchmark and their underlying allocations do not depend on the investment skills of a portfolio manager, they are an integral part of the investment landscape and regularly outperform actively managed funds.
• Methodology: The method for calculating risk-adjusted performance has also been simplified. Whereas in the past funds were rated according to their PlexCrown rating, which involved complex calculations using multiple formulas, they will now be rated according to their five-year Sortino Ratio score. The Sortino Ratio takes into consideration the extent to which day-to-day performance deviates to the downside from average long-term performance. It is widely used globally to assess risk-versus-reward in investment instruments.
• Hesse is a former editor of Personal Finance and has acted as a consultant in planning the 2025 Raging Bull Awards.
PERSONAL FINANCE