AIB turns in star performance amid weakness

Rehab Great Investment Race: It was impossible to ignore the weakness in global markets last month, even in the expert circles of the Rehab Great Investment Race as the collective fund shed almost 13 per cent of its value over the course of May. However, overall performance masked some individual star turns.

Top of the list of stellar performers was AIB Investment Managers, where Lance Graham continued his winning run, posting a 6.8 per cent monthly gain. This left AIB safely in first position in the overall rankings with a total return to date of 55.8 per cent.

Graham drew the May return mainly from two stocks: Bluetooth firm CSR and Edinburgh-based microchip developer Wolfson Microelec. CSR was the main driver, rising by a cool 20 per cent over the month after posting strong results. Graham traded in and out of Wolfson, buying back when the stock was lower. He held both stocks, along with Glaxo and a portion of cash, into May.

Irish Life Investment Managers also held steady, sticking at second spot after gaining 1.8 per cent in April. The return came as Séamus Magner bought and sold no fewer than seven stocks, a number of which were passing through special situations. Top of this list was Mittal Steel, the global steelmaker that was bidding for Luxembourg-based steel giant Arcelor. Magner did well here, as well as benefiting from a holding in Independent News & Media.

Early in the month, he also received an uplift from EADS, the Franco-German-Spanish firm that owns 80 per cent of Airbus and is being asked by BAE to buy its 20 per cent stake. He suffered a small loss on Deutsche Telekom and went on to hold Bank of Ireland, C&C and IFG into June.

There was a shake-up at third position in May, with Oppenheim Investment Managers stealing the spot from Hibernian Investment Managers after posting a 2.1 per cent monthly return.

Richard Dunn, who was fourth at the end of April, delivered the result after a fairly poor start to the month turned into some opportunistic gains.

He received a particular boost after trading in and out of Sea-Drill, a Bermuda-based offshore driller, and Joy Global, a mining equipment provider.

He held Datalex, copper miner Antofagasta and gaming machines company International Game Technology into June.

Hibernian's slip from third to fourth came on holdings in three stocks: US housebuilder KB Homes, oil services business Petrofac and copper miner Southern Copper.

Fund manager Roy Asher said his 14.7 per cent monthly fall was a simple case of all three of his sectors being "absolutely hammered". He made the point that copper miners have fallen further than copper prices, while oil services have suffered more than oil prices. Asher's overall gain stood at 3.9 per cent as the month turned and he stuck with all three stocks.

Bank of Ireland Asset Management held on to fifth place in May as Chris Reilly's one-stock holding in US drugmaker Pfizer resulted in a 7.4 per cent monthly decline. This left Reilly with an overall return of 2.4 per cent as he stuck with Pfizer into June.

Things were steady at the bottom of the table, too, last month, with James McSweeney of Setanta Asset Management still in sixth place.

McSweeney presided over a 1.4 per cent monthly fall as he made money on UK life fund manager Resolution, CSR and Ralph Lauren but lost it on other holdings, including Bank of Ireland, Glaxo and Novartis, with Setanta holding CSR, Newcourt, Ralph Lauren, BHP Billiton and Xtrata into June along with some cash.