A dour report from consultancy firm McKinsey in September 2010 stating that active equity managers stand to lose pension scheme mandates, plus a volatile year with the MSCI World index up 8.17% over the past twelve months to 17 August, but down 6.52% year to date, may have dampened spirits in the sector.

But the equity managers that make up this year's shortlist have batted these problems away, expanding the number of mandates, increasing assets under management, and beating benchmarks in both the long and the short term.