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18 November 2022 / Company news

Scope Awards: best funds, investment companies and certificate issuers

For the 17th year, Scope has given out prizes for outstanding performance in the areas of liquid and alternative investments. The best large fund provider is J.P. Morgan Asset Management; Lupus alpha wins the smaller house award.

Scope, together with its media partner Handelsblatt, has honoured the best funds, investment companies and certificate issuers. Scope analysts assessed almost 12,000 funds and around 2,000 asset managers and certificate issuers. At the ceremony on 17 November in Berlin, winners in 57 categories were given awards for outstanding performance. Scope Awards are considered the most important award for funds and asset managers in German-speaking countries.

The evening was hosted by Barbara Schöneberger, while hip-hop singer Jan Delay and singer-songwriter Elif provided the musical programme. Guest speakers included Professor Jörg Rocholl, President of ESMT Berlin, the international business school, and Katja Mühlheim, founder of Prestel & Partner, the service provider to global family offices.

Strongest performances in UCITS funds

In the field of UCITS funds, asset managers and funds were awarded across a total of 30 categories. For the second year in a row, the coveted award of best universal provider went to J.P. Morgan Asset Management. The company demonstrated expertise in almost all liquid asset classes. International bond portfolios, global equity funds for developed and emerging countries as well as short-dated bond products were particularly impressive this time around.

Scope named German asset manager Lupus alpha as the best specialist provider. Almost 70% of the company’s funds assessed by Scope achieved a top rating. The flagship product performed significantly better than its competitors over the medium and long term.

The best universal provider in Germany for sustainability is Nordea. Decisive factors were the company’s decades of experience with ESG investments and the deep-rated nature of this theme in its corporate culture.

Among the fund companies with less than 25 funds rated by Scope, Federated Hermes stands out in terms of sustainability. The company is a pioneer in the field of ESG. Scope analysts were particularly impressed by the commitment in terms of investee companies.

Two awards went to Allianz Global Investors. The company was recognised for its excellent performance in multi-asset products and in thematic funds.

For the first time, Scope gave an award to a provider of active ETFs. This inaugural prize went to Fidelity. For many years, the company has combined the advantages of active management and ETFs.

Investment Awards: All Winners

Scope Awards for Alternative Investment Funds

Another 22 awards went to alternative investment funds. DWS won two awards. The jury recognised exceptional performance with globally active open-ended real estate funds (Retail Real Estate Global) and European real estate funds for large investors (Institutional Real Estate Europe). Deka Immobilien won the award in the category "Retail Real Estate Europe".

Goldman Sachs was honoured as the best fund provider in the private equity sector, the first time Scope has given an award in this category. In the Infrastructure segment, KGAL and Macquarie Asset Management received awards.

Strong performances in terms of sustainability were also recognised in alternative investment funds. Wertgrund won the Scope Award in the "ESG Residential Real Estate" category, and J. Safra Sarasin in the "ESG Commercial Real Estate" category.

Alternative Investment Awards: All Winners

Certificate issuers also win awards

Scope gave out five awards to certificate issuers. The best primary market provider was DekaBank, while BNP Paribas got the jury’s vote in the secondary market segment. The Trading Award this year went to Morgan Stanley, and the ESG Award in the certificates segment was won by Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.

Société Générale showed the strongest performance across the board and was named the best universal issuer.

Certificates: All Winners

The coverage of the Scope Awards in Handelsblatt (in German):