What's Hot
February was firmly an Asia story, with 9 of the 10 funds in the table from the region.
Korea continues its extraordinary run after years in the shadow of Japan and China, taking the top 2 places in the hot list.
Strong performances in Korea and Taiwan also lifted broader Asia Pacific funds, which account for another 4 positions in the list.
Parts of the Chinese market had a strong month, and we see a small cap tech-focused fund make an appearance. This suggests improving sentiment and growing investor confidence domestically.
A value focused Japan fund also makes an appearance following a strong month for Japan off the back of a general election.
What's Not
Higher valuation global growth strategies dominate the laggards and continue to struggle as money rotates to cheaper parts of the world.
US growth in particular continues to cool, with Baillie Gifford making 2 appearances - their American fund topping the dud list for February, down nearly 9%.
While the FTSE 100 continued to hit new highs, UK Smallers were broadly flat over the month. A few of the micro-cap funds struggled with Liontrust and Gresham House both down around 6%.
What's Hot
Name | Sector | Last Month's Performance % |
|---|
Barings Korea Trust | Specialist | 18.25 |
JPM Korea Equity Fund | Specialist | 15.47 |
Polar Capital Smart Energy | Specialist | 13.86 |
Matthews China Discovery | China/Greater China | 13.59 |
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield | Japan | 13.26 |
Royal London Asia Pacific ex Japan Equity Tilt | Asia Pacific Excluding Japan | 13.11 |
HSBC Pacific Index | Asia Pacific Excluding Japan | 13.04 |
iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index | Asia Pacific Excluding Japan | 13.04 |
L&G Pacific Index Trust | Asia Pacific Excluding Japan | 12.73 |
Polar Capital Artificial Intelligence | IA Global | 12.51 |
What's Not
Name | Sector | Last Month's Performance % |
|---|
Baillie Gifford American | North America | -8.95 |
Robeco FinTech | Financials and Financial Innovation | -7.91 |
WS Gresham House UK Smaller Companies | UK Smaller Companies | -6.26 |
Pictet Longevity | Specialist | -6.23 |
Invesco Global Consumer Trends | Global | -5.99 |
Waystone Nutshell Growth | Global | -5.87 |
Baillie Gifford Long Term Global Growth Investment | Global | -5.86 |
Polen Capital Focus US Growth | North America | -5.45 |
Liontrust UK Smaller Companies | UK Smaller Companies | -5.42 |
Amundi MSCI China ESG Selection | China/Greater China | -5.39 |
Fund performance 01/02/2026 – 26/02/2026. Funds <50m in size and ETFs excluded from the above research.
NOTE
We do this blog to simply highlight short term trends. These are not recommendations.