Players reap collective gain in Rehab race

Markets drifted slightly for the first six weeks of this year's Rehab Great Investment Race, leaving the collective 1.7 per cent gain notched up by the seven players looking very creditable.

At the top of the heap at the end of June was Montgomery Oppenheim, last year's second-placed player. Fund manager Mr Richard Dunn was a reasonably active trader, buying into four stocks at the start of the race and notching up a gain of 5 per cent.

He held three of his stocks - CRH, Elan and Fyffes - into July, with CRH his favourite for the long term.

While Elan is also likely to figure in Mr Dunn's long-term portfolio, he says Fyffes may fall by the wayside before long.

Mr Dunn did particularly well in June on US hunting and fishing retailer Cabelas, which had a successful initial public offering during the month.

Second position in June went to race newcomers AIB Investment Managers under fund manager Mr Lance Graham. The firm, which notched up a gain of 3.7 per cent, bought five stocks from three continents.

The best performer was UK media group United Business Media which gained about 15 per cent over the month as the market anticipated the firm's results. AIB's second media investment, VNU, was less impressive, although Mr Graham expects to maintain a holding in the Dutch company over the next few months.

He also plans to maintain a position in Hong Kong-based export trading company Li Fung to preserve exposure to the booming Asian economies.

Mr Graham expects to ride the energy sector through the US drilling company Rowan, which has been gaining both on the back of buoyant oil prices and a new contract win. AIB's worst performer in June was Californian firm Sandisk, which makes memory for digital cameras.

Next best player in June was Setanta Asset Management, where fund manager Mr James McSweeney was the race's most active player.

With capital preservation in mind, Mr McSweeney's first purchases were of DCC, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P), all three of which offer good dividends but looked a touch undervalued.

He sold out of IL&P mid-month in search of better short-term opportunities in firms such as Microsoft and ING. He was ahead by 2.9 per cent at June 30th.

The race's second newcomer, Standard Life, recorded a gain of 2 per cent. Under fund manager Mr Tony Hood it was almost fully invested in takeover target Marks and Spencer. The saga at the retailer has hotted up since the end of the month, so it will be interesting to see how Mr Hood's position changes in July.

Next came Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM), which just sneaked into positive territory by the end of the month, with a gain of 0.1 per cent. Fund manager Mr Lenny McLoughlin invested about two-thirds of his fund between CRH and British housebuilder Westbury keeping the remainder in cash until better opportunities arose.

Next came last year's outright winner, Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), which ended the month down by 0.5 per cent, with a holding in CRH to blame for the small drop.

Fund manager Mr Chris Reilly who pursued a one-stock strategy last year to great success, said his holding in CRH was "likely" to be maintained over coming months.

Bottom of the heap was Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM), with a loss of 0.9 per cent over the month.

As with HIM, ILIM fund manager Mr Seamus Magner was about two-thirds invested at the end of June, with the remaining €31,000 held in cash.