Pru M&G Medium Term Balanced fund took the top position in the Combined Actuarial Performance Services (Caps) pooled fund results in the third quarter, ahead of the J Rothschild (GAM) fund which has topped the table in the previous two quarters.

Against a backdrop of falling equity markets, the Pru M&G fund returned -5.4% compared with the median of -12.6%. It took a huge step from the second quarter when it was ranked 80 out of 86 funds surveyed, with a return of -0.5% compared with a median of 1.0%. The poor equity performance overall resulted in the worst result since quarter three in 1990 when the median was -15.2%.