Multi-asset funds launched in 2022 have made a spectacular start to their investment life, research by Trustnet has found, with more than half producing a top-quartile return in their first three full years.
Some 11 of the 21 funds that turned three years old in 2025 landed in the top 25% of their sector for returns, while only two produced bottom-quartile efforts.
In this study, Trustnet looks at funds launched in 2022 that passed their three-year mark last year, dissecting their performance over three years from the start of 2023 to the end of 2025. Previously, we have looked at the US, global, emerging market and UK equity sectors, as well as sterling bond funds. Here, we end the series looking at multi-asset ranges.
Royal Bank of Scotland stood out, with five funds producing top-quartile returns over the period examined. Royal Bank of Scot Coutts Managed Equity 3 made the highest returns of any funds on the list below, up 47.7%.
Residing in the IA Flexible Investments sector, the fund is almost entirely invested in stocks. It invests through external funds including BlackRock, Amundi and JP Morgan, among others, using a blend of index trackers and actively managed portfolios.
The £1.3bn fund, managed by Coutts & Co, takes environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into consideration through its responsible investing policies but is not managed to a sustainability objective and therefore does not meet the criteria for an Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) label.
| The multi-asset funds launched in 2022 in the top quartile of their sector over 3yrs | |||||
| Fund | Sector | Return over 3yrs | Quartile ranking | Fund launch | Fund size |
| Royal Bank of Scot Coutts Managed Equity 3 | IA Flexible Investment | 47.7% | 1 | 07/09/2022 | £1,303m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Adventurous 3 | IA Flexible Investment | 44.9% | 1 | 07/09/2022 | £1,510m |
| IFSL YOU Adventurous | IA Flexible Investment | 42.9% | 1 | 16/09/2022 | £135m |
| Royal London Sustainable Growth | IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | 42.4% | 1 | 24/05/2022 | £187m |
| FP Mattioli Woods Passive Adventurous | IA Flexible Investment | 41.4% | 1 | 18/03/2022 | £20m |
| MF Eclipse Active Adventurous | IA Flexible Investment | 41.3% | 1 | 01/08/2022 | £30m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Ambitious 3 | IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | 38.6% | 1 | 07/09/2022 | £1,598m |
| Volare Volare Adventurous | IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | 37.5% | 1 | 14/04/2022 | £16m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Coutts Managed Balanced 2 | IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | 31.7% | 1 | 07/09/2022 | £5,723m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Balanced 3 | IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | 30.8% | 1 | 07/09/2022 | £2,080m |
| IFSL YOU Multi-Asset Blend Cautious | IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares | 23.1% | 1 | 16/09/2022 | £327m |
Source: FE Analytics
Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Adventurous 3 was second with a 44.9% return, while Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Ambitious 3, Royal Bank of Scot Coutts Managed Balanced 2 and Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Balanced 3 all sat in the top 25% of their respective peer groups over three years.
IFSL YOU Adventurous was in third place on the table. Managed by Chris Ayton, Cormac Nevin and Shane Balkham, the £143m fund is another that pairs passive and active portfolios together. Pzena Global Value is the only active fund in its top five holdings.
The fund has just 19.8% in dedicated US equity funds, with 19.7% in the UK and 17% in Japan. It also invests in global funds (16.5%) and emerging market portfolios (14.3%), with Europe excluding the UK (8.4%) a slightly smaller allocation.
Four of the top five funds on the list above come from the IA Flexible Investments sector, where these portfolios can allocated up to 100% in equities. The past three years have broadly been strong for stocks, suggesting those with higher market allocations will have performed best.
However, Royal London Sustainable Growth breaks up the list. Sitting in the IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares, it has made 42.4% over the past three years despite a 23.6% weighting to fixed income.
The fund invests in direct equities and bonds. It is run by George Crowdy, Mike Fox, Sebastien Beguelin and Daphne Tsang, who invest in companies or bond issuers that fit one of the firm’s sustainability themes: Clean, Healthy, Safe and Inclusive.
Despite its short history, the portfolio is recommended by analysts at RSMR, who have rated the entire fund range.
“We believe this is a strong proposition, employing a longstanding and proven sustainable investment process with a well-resourced internal team. They should be capable of continuing to deliver competitive risk-adjusted returns whilst focusing on investments that are helping to make a positive change to society and the environment,” they said.
Not all multi-asset funds launched in 2022 provided top-quartile returns, but investors who backed any of the young funds generally did well. Outside of the list above, a further five portfolios beat their average peer, as the below table shows.
This includes FP Mattioli Woods Passive Growth and FP Mattioli Woods Passive Balanced. They are part of the firm’s fund-of-funds range, which also includes the FP Mattioli Woods Passive Cautious, which are in the third quartile of the IA Flexible Investment sector over three years.
| How these multi-asset funds launched in 2022 have performed three years on | |||||
| Fund | Sector | Return over 3yrs | Quartile ranking | Fund launch | Fund size |
| FP Mattioli Woods Passive Growth | IA Flexible Investment | 37.7% | 2 | 18/03/2022 | £78m |
| FP Mattioli Woods Passive Balanced | IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | 34.5% | 2 | 18/03/2022 | £60m |
| FP Mattioli Woods Passive Cautious | IA Flexible Investment | 26.8% | 3 | 18/03/2022 | £7m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Cautious 3 | IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | 25.6% | 2 | 07/09/2022 | £331m |
| WS T. Bailey Multi-Asset Growth | IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares | 24.6% | 4 | 21/02/2022 | £46m |
| Tutman FS SVS Aubrey Citadel | IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | 22.9% | 3 | 31/08/2022 | £8m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Coutts Managed Defensive 3 | IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares | 22.1% | 2 | 07/09/2022 | £311m |
| MF Eclipse Active Defensive | IA Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares | 21.9% | 3 | 01/08/2022 | £24m |
| Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Defensive 3 | IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares | 20.7% | 2 | 07/09/2022 | £124m |
| Wellington Multi-Asset Income and Growth | IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares | 12.9% | 4 | 01/02/2022 | £108m |
Source: FE Analytics
Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Cautious 3, Royal Bank of Scot Coutts Managed Defensive 3 and Royal Bank of Scot Personal Portfolio Defensive 3 all appear in the chart above, making second-quartile returns in their sectors.
Only two funds were in the bottom quartile of their peer groups. WS T. Bailey Multi-Asset Growth, managed by Elliot Farley and Peter Askew, struggled in the IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares despite being up 24.6% in the three years to the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, Stephen Gorman and Supriya Menon’s Wellington Multi-Asset Income and Growth fund sat near the bottom of the IA Mixed Investment 0-35% Shares, up 12.9% over the period.