The annual Fund Manager of the Year Awards, held in partnership with Money Management, showcases the industry’s top performers, including leading fund managers, boutique funds, emerging managers and innovators.

As the exclusive research partner for the awards, Lonsec brought its expertise to judging 25 group award categories, recognising the very best in the funds management industry.

Congratulations to Firetrail Investments for winning this year’s coveted Fund Manager of the Year award. We also extend our congratulations to all finalists and winners, listed in full below.

Congratulations to Firetrail Investments

Winner of Fund Manager of the Year award

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Winners for each category are listed in bold

Australian Large Cap Equity Fund of the Year

Acadian Australian Equity Long Short Fund – Class A
Chester High Conviction Fund
Dimensional Australian Value Trust – Active ETF
L1 Capital Long Short Fund – Daily
RQI Australian Value – Class A

Australian Small Cap Equity Fund of the Year

DNR Capital Australian Emerging Companies Fund
Eley Griffiths Group Small Companies Fund
Firetrail Australian Small Companies Fund – Active ETF
Maple-Brown Abbott Australian Small Companies Fund
RQI Australian Small Cap Value – Class A

Global Equities Small and Mid Caps Fund of the Year

American Century Global Small Cap Fund – Wholesale Class
Artisan Global Discovery Fund
Dimensional Global Small Company Trust – Active ETF
MFS Global New Discovery Trust W
Ophir Global High Conviction Fund – Class A

Global Equities Large Cap Fund of the Year

Arrowstreet Global Equity Fund
Munro Climate Change Leaders Fund – Class A
Orbis Global Equity Fund – Australia Registered Retail
PM Capital Global Companies Fund
RQI Global Value – Class A

Global Emerging Market Equity Fund of the Year

Ashmore Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Fund
Pzena Emerging Markets Value Fund Wholesale A
Robeco Emerging Conservative Equity Fund
RQI Emerging Markets Value – Class A

Australian Property Securities Fund of the Year

Cromwell Phoenix Property Securities Fund
SGH Property Income Fund
UBS CBRE Property Securities Fund

Global Property Securities Fund of the Year

Ironbark DWS Global Property Securities Fund
Nomura Global Listed Real Estate Fund – Class A Units
Resolution Capital Global Property Securities Fund – Active ETF

Infrastructure Securities Fund of the Year

4D Global Infrastructure Fund
ClearBridge Global Infrastructure Value Fund – Class A Units
Lazard Global Listed Infrastructure Active ETF

Unlisted Real Assets Fund of the Year

ASA Diversified Property Fund
Corval Property Fund
Dexus Wholesale Australian Property Fund

Australian Bond Fund of the Year

Perpetual Active Fixed Interest Fund
Western Asset Australian Bond Fund
Yarra Australian Bond Fund

Global Bonds Fund of the Year

Macquarie Dynamic Bond Fund
MFS Global Opportunistic Fixed Income Trust
PIMCO Global Bond Fund

Innovation Award of the Year

Betashares Capital Ltd (for the Betashares Fixed Term Corporate Bond Active ETFs)
Global X Management (AUS) Limited (for the Global X China Tech ETF)
MA Investment Management Pty Ltd (for the MA Credit Portfolio Notes)
Partners Group Private Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd (for the Partners Group Royalties Opportunities Fund)
Pengana Credit Pty Ltd (for TermPlus)

Unconstrained Bond Fund of the Year

Daintree Core Income Trust
Janus Henderson Tactical Income Fund
Schroder Absolute Return Income Fund

Specialised Income Fund of the Year

Ares Global Credit Income Fund
Janus Henderson Diversified Credit Fund
Perpetual Diversified Income Fund
Realm Short Term Income Fund
Yarra Enhanced Income Fund

Private Equity Fund of the Year

Hamilton Lane Global Private Assets Fund (AUD)
Partners Group Global Multi-Asset Fund
Pengana Private Equity Trust
Schroder Specialist Private Equity FundYarra Enhanced Income Fund

Private Debt Fund of the Year

Ares Diversified Credit Fund
MA Priority Income Fund
Metrics Direct Income Fund
Realm Strategic Income Fund Enduring Units

Multi-Asset Super Option of the Year

Australian Retirement Trust – Super Savings – Balanced
Aware Super Future Saver – Balanced Socially Conscious
Hostplus – Balanced

Multi-Asset Multi-Manager of the Year

CFS Geared Growth Plus
MLC MultiActive Capital Stable
Morningstar High Growth Real Return Fund

Multi-Asset Diversified Fund of the Year

BlackRock Tactical Growth Fund
ipac Income Generator (Class K)
Pendal Monthly Income Plus Fund
Schroder Multi-Asset Income Fund

Passive-Equities Fund of the Year

Betashares FTSE RAFI Australia 200 ETF
iShares Core MSCI World ex Australia ESG ETF
State Street SPDR MSCI World Quality Mix ETF
VanEck FTSE Global Infrastructure (AUD Hedged) ETF
VanEck Gold Miners ETF
Vanguard MSCI International Small Companies Index ETF

Passive-Fixed Income/Alternatives Fund of the Year

Betashares Australian Bank Senior Floating Rate Bond ETF
Betashares Australian Composite Bond ETF
iShares Core Corporate Bond ETF
Perth Mint Gold Structured Product
VanEck Australian Floating Rate ETF

Responsible Investment Fund of the Year

Dimensional Australian Sustainability Trust
Munro Climate Change Leaders Fund – Class A
Perpetual ESG Credit Income Fund

Liquid Alternatives Fund of the Year

BlackRock Multi Opportunity Absolute Return Fund
Firetrail Absolute Return Fund – Class A
Fulcrum Diversified Investments Fund
Smarter Money Long-Short Credit Fund
Staude Capital Global Value Fund Limited

Emerging Manager of the Year

Blue Owl Capital
Brandes Investment Partners
Churchill Asset Management, from Nuveen
Pantheon VenturesStaude Capital Global Value Fund Limited

Fund Manager of the Year

BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited
Firetrail Investments Pty Ltd
Janus Henderson Investors (Australia)
Institutional Funds Management Limited
Lazard Asset Management LLC
Perpetual Investment Management Limited
RQI Investors

Disclaimer: This content relates to the 2026 Fund Manager of the Year Awards (‘Award’) that were announced on 26 June 2026.
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Lonsec receives a fixed fee from category winners for the rights to use Award logos. Lonsec does not receive a fee from category finalists for the rights to use Award logos. An Award logo is limited to general advice. An investor should obtain a Product Disclosure Statement (‘PDS’) relating to the product, consider the PDS and seek independent financial advice before making any decision about whether to acquire the product. An Award logo is not a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold the product.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.