The markets were good to the Rehab Great Investment Race fund in July, with overall gains of close to €140,000 in place as the race moved into its second-last month.

The main contributor to the positive monthly performance was Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), where Mr Chris Reilly's one-stock strategy once again proved the smartest in town. BIAM's fund gained 16.8 per cent over the month and has doubled in the year to date.

Mr Reilly made no trades in July and continued to concentrate almost all of his fund on McInerney.

"We still feel we can make a bit more," he said.

In second place this month was Montgomery Oppenheim, with a healthy 8.6 per cent return. The result pushed the firm from third to second place, with a total gain to date of 17.3 per cent.

Montgomery's Mr Séamus Kelly said the firm's best move in July was the purchase of ABB, which rose by 40 per cent over the course of the month.

He expects to stick with a low-risk, diversified strategy as the end of the race comes closer. He has entered August with 46 per cent of his portfolio in Montgomery's own global equity fund, with the remainder spread among Alliance & Leicester, Elan, Bank of Ireland, ABB and cash.

Mr Kelly made a 10 per cent gain by selling his holding in Independent News & Media last month.

Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM) dropped from second to third position in July with a monthly gain of 0.2 per cent.

This brings HIM's total return so far to 13.1 per cent, a yield which managing director Mr Tony Joyce believes is worth protecting.

The firm remained entirely in cash for July on what Mr Joyce said was a risk/reward judgment. He said HIM may dip back into the stock market over the final weeks of the race if a suitable opportunity presents itself.

Remaining in fourth position in July was KBC Asset Management, which posted the third-best monthly return of 5.8 per cent.

Fund manager Mr Noel O'Halloran said the fund had benefited from full exposure to equities, adding that he was happy to maintain this "for the foreseeable future".

KBC has moved into August with a continued concentration on US and Asian equity funds, but Mr O'Halloran said individual stock picks would also be considered if they looked cheap. He has netted a gain of 11 per cent in the year to date.

Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) made a 0.4 per cent gain in July and retained its fifth-place position in the race.

ILIM's Mr Séamus Magner continued to stand out from the rest of the contestants over the month with his involvement in the French futures market.

His equity picks also had a bias towards France, with Pechiney, Alcatel and France Telecom among his July trades.

ILIM has now increased the value of its Rehab fund allocation by 4 per cent.

The only company to miss out on the market upside last month was Setanta Asset Management.

Fund manager Mr Gary Connolly said the firm, which has been one of the race's most active traders over recent months, had been hurt by bad calls around the middle of July.

A move into Lexmark, which came a day before the firm issued a profit-warning, was particularly punishing.

Setanta's fund lost 3.4 per cent in July, leaving it with an 8.6 per cent overall decline.

The fund was entirely in cash as August began but has since become involved in equities again.

Mr Connolly acknowledged that time was running out for a recovery but said a concentration on just three stocks this month was, so far, paying off .