Oppenheim blazes a trail

Oppenheim Investment Managers' stellar performance in the Rehab Great Investment Race last month threw into sharp relief the losses suffered by three of the four other challengers in the charity investment competition.

The race, in which five leading fund managers were given €100,000 by Rehab Lotteries to invest, has now reached the critical halfway mark. So far, turmoil in international stock markets has taken its toll on several competitors who have struggled to stay in the black.

However, in a month when the Iseq index shed 3.78 per cent of its value, Oppenheim succeeded in shrugging off market conditions and marked itself out as a clear contender for the winner's podium.

Oppenheim's fund now stands at €211,938 after soaring by 58 per cent, or €77,514, in December alone, and its initial stake has grown by 112 per cent since the start flag was dropped last July.

Not only did Oppenheim widen its lead on its nearest rival, Irish Life Investment Managers, to more than €100,000, it also compensated for the losses incurred by several of its rivals. So despite a grim month for most, more than €62,000 was added to the total raised, bringing combined gains to €118,047.

Astute stock picking and active trading remained the secret to Oppenheim fund manager Stephen Hynes's success in December, with some good calls in the US equity section of his portfolio proving particularly lucrative. By the end of the month, though, Hynes had streamlined his portfolio back down to two stocks, James River Coal and Daystar Technologies.

Bank of Ireland Asset Manager (BIAM) was the only other contestant to emerge unscathed from the unforgiving stock market conditions in December, adding €999 to the pot. However, unlike Hynes, BIAM's fund manager Pat Cunningham's positive result came down to his steadfast buy- and-hold strategy.

He stuck to his guns and resisted tinkering with his portfolio of four stocks: Sonic Healthcare, an Australian medical diagnostics company; Hong Kong property developer Sun Hung Kai; Vallourec, a French services company which makes metal pipes; and steel giant Arcelor Mittal.

However, although Cunningham bucked the trend by reporting a gain for December, it was not enough to make up for losses suffered in earlier legs of the race. BIAM ended the year languishing at the bottom of the league table with its race fund at €92,591.

AIB Investment Managers (AIBIM) slotted into third position, both last month and in the overall rankings.

Fund manager Keith Johnstone changed tack from his previous active trading style. In December he sat tight without adjusting his race portfolio, which is currently invested in four stocks: Crocs, Flir Systems, National Oilwell and Nintendo.

National Oilwell was the only stock not to lose value in December, however, with the result that the fund fell by 2.9 per cent, or €3,207.

Despite this loss, over the course of the competition so far the fund has grown to €107,184, with the result that AIBIM is now almost neck-and-neck with Irish Life Investment Managers.

Irish Life's luck took a turn for the worse last month and it slid to the bottom.

Although it still maintains its overall position in second place, it incurred the greatest loss of 7.5 per cent in December, and its fund deflated from €116,538 to €107,842. Grafton Group, C&C and Xstrata were the main culprits, with losses sustained when holdings in these companies were sold off.

The only stock held over into January by fund manager Séamus Magner was DCC.

KBC Asset Management finished in fourth position. Tough market conditions have taken their toll on its race pot and the fund's original €100,000 has dwindled to €98,491.

KBC's fund manager Noel O'Halloran again held his nerve and resisted changing his portfolio of five stocks. These include CRH, Smartrac and Acciona. He will hope that his strategy starts paying off soon, as the fund lost €4,370 last month.