All managers in Rehab race post August gains

Just as August was a healthy month for stock markets, it was a landmark period for the Rehab Great Investment Race, with all of six of the competing players managing to record positive returns for the first time this year.

The result leaves the overall Rehab fund holding gains of some €160,000, with close to two-thirds of that attributable to one competitor: Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM).

BIAM's Mr Chris Reilly performed no trades within his portfolio over the month and carried a holding in McInerney into September.

This one-stock strategy delivered a monthly gain of 0.8 per cent for BIAM, leaving it close to the bottom of the August table. Mr Reilly says he sees good potential in his "lonely stock" for the two months remaining in the race.

The best August return came from Montgomery Oppenheim, where managers achieved a 7.7 per cent monthly rise and retained their second position in the overall rankings.

Like BIAM, the company made no trades over the period, choosing to stick with a diversified equity strategy that involves holdings in Bank of Ireland, ABB and Elan.

Fund manager Mr Joe O'Dwyer said the only black spot had been with Elan, but was happy to point to the stock's climb of recent days as a reversal of negative trends.

Next best on the month was Setanta Asset Management, with a return of 4.5 per cent.

The company's portfolio remains in the red overall, but fund manager Mr Gary Connolly is optimistic that his equity picks will be luckier going forward.

He entered September with half of his portfolio in cash and the remainder in stocks such as Axa, Cisco and Lafarge.

KBC Asset Management grew its portion of the fund by 4.5 per cent in August, allowing the company to move from fourth to third in the overall rankings.

The KBC fund remains completely invested in equities, with a Far Eastern holding providing the best return last month.

Fund manager Mr Noel O'Halloran intends to stick with the region in September, with his portfolio also containing a bias towards US equities.

Irish Life Investment Managers made a gain of 2.1 per cent last month after trades in Alstom, ABN Amro, Adecco and AIB. ...

The result sees the firm retaining its fifth position in the race.

Fund manager Mr Seamus Magner says he is keen to "do a bit more trading" as the race draws to a close. Unlike previous months, he did not become involved with the French futures market in August, but made a brief foray into FTSE futures.

At the bottom of the August table is Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM), where a decision to remain entirely in cash meant the stock-market upswing brought no benefit.

The strategy saw the company make a monthly return of 0.1 per cent and slipped from third to fourth place in the rankings.

HIM remained in cash as the race entered September.