US election and oil prices challenged participants in Rehab Great Investment Race

Rehab Great Investment Race: The imminent US presidential election and climbing oil prices weighed heavily on markets throughout October, leaving the Rehab Great Investment Race players facing more of a challenge than usual.

The top prize at the end of the race's difficult fifth month went to Setanta Asset Management, where fund manager Mr James McSweeney delivered a 5.4 per cent return.

This performance, which lifted Setanta from fourth to third place in the overall rankings, came on a number of small trades in Axa, Allianz and Dutch semiconductor firm ASML.

Mr McSweeney said his strategy was to mix value with momentum stocks. He continued to hold all three firms as he entered November.

Taking second place in October was Standard Life, where fund manager Mr Tony Hood exited his holding in Marks & Spencer after a £2.3 million (€3.28 million) payout to shareholders was approved.

Mr Hood's 3.4 per cent monthly return did not affect his overall rankings, however, and he remained in seventh place as the month turned.

He entered November with a stake in Kidde - the UK supplier of fire and explosion protection systems - and a portion of cash.

Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) took third position in October with a monthly return of 2.9 per cent.

Fund manager Mr Seamus Magner was the race's most active player, as he bought and sold stocks such as Havas, Reuters and Deutsche Telekom. His best performer, however, was Marsh & McLellan, which he caught on the bounce in the aftermath of news on Mr Eliot Spitzer's lawsuit.

This strategy raised ILIM's overall race position from sixth to fifth.

Mr Magner moved into October entirely in cash as he awaited new trading opportunities.

The fourth spot in October was taken by Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), where fund manager Mr Chris Reilly posted a 2.8 per cent gain on Greencore, which he maintained into November.

Mr Reilly believes the stock, which reports results next week, remains undervalued relative to its potential.

"I think we'll be making some money out of it," he said, pointing to progress made by Greencore in reducing its debt as a driving factor.

BIAM held its second position in the overall rankings.

Montgomery Oppenheim held tightly on to its top position in the overall table in October, boosted by a 2.4 per cent monthly return. Fund manager Mr Michael Lernihan gained most from Eircom, which rose by 8 per cent over the month.

He held Montgomery Oppenheim's Exempt Irish Equity Fund, the IShares MSCI Japan Index exchange-traded fund and some UTV into November.

About a third of the firm's overall allocation remained in cash at the end of the month.

Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM) came in sixth in October with a loss for the month of 1.4 per cent.

The drop was driven by HIM's stake in UK housebuilder, Westbury, which was punished along with its peers last month.

Mr Roy Asher said he still has confidence in Westbury, which he held along with Hong Kong diversified-trading company Jardine Matheson into November. HIM, which was in fourth position overall as November began, has also opted to keep about a third of its total allocation in cash.

Seventh place last month went to AIB Investment Managers (AIBIM), where Mr Lance Graham posted a 5.3 per cent monthly decline.

The fall, which pushed AIBIM down from fifth to sixth spot, was due mostly to digital camera memory maker Sandisk, which fell by 30 per cent on a profit warning.

Mr Graham did not trade in October, holding on to Sandisk in a belief that the market had overreacted.