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Active Investment Strategies Morningstar Analysts Trust
Out of nearly 1,000 actively managed strategies Morningstar covers in Europe, only 62 have earned a High rating on both People and Process. Here's what makes the 2026 list—and who moved on or off it since last year.
Key Takeaways
- Morningstar's manager research team qualitatively covers 942 actively managed open-end strategies available in Europe; only 62 earn a High rating on both People and Process pillars — a rare "Double High" distinction.
- This quarter's list saw 14 newcomers and two removals, including a downgrade tied to a manager retirement and rising analyst turnover.
- Strategies aren't guaranteed to outperform every year, but the pairing of elite people and process is designed to improve the odds over a full market cycle.
Investors have never had more actively managed strategies to pick from, and the abundance has a cost. The sheer number of options makes it harder, not easier, to find the ones with real potential to outperform long term.
Morningstar's qualitative manager research is the filter. Our Best of Breed report narrows that universe to 62 strategies across multi-asset, equity, and fixed income. Each strategy is broken down by People, Process, and portfolio alongside the strategy's Medalist Rating and Morningstar Category.
Download the full Best of Breed report for the complete list of 62 strategies, fund-by-fund analysis, and performance tables.
What It Takes to Make the List
The Morningstar Medalist Rating is forward-looking and built on three pillars: People, Process, and Parent. Each is rated on a five-point scale from High to Low, and together they gauge whether a strategy can beat its category average after fees over a full market cycle.
The Best of Breed list isolates the strategies rated High on two of those three pillars: People and Process. Morningstar's manager research team qualitatively covers 942 actively managed open-end strategies available in Europe and only 62 earned the rare "Double High" distinction in the 2026 edition.
Each pillar is assessed across five dimensions. For the People Pillar, those dimensions are:
- Management structure
- Experience and tenure
- Ability (disciplined execution, deep research, and a thoughtful investment mindset)
- Supporting team quality and dynamic
- Succession planning
For Process, the dimensions include:
- Approach
- Edge
- Portfolio characteristics
- Risk management
- Capacity and liquidity
We do not score based on reputation or recent returns. We score based on whether the advantage is durable, repeatable, and able to outlast the people who built it.
Why Double High Is a Rare Distinction
Of the 942 strategies covered in our report, 705 show positive conviction, meaning People or Process is rated Above Average or High. Only 62 strategies clear the bar on both. Morningstar calls that pairing the pinnacle of active management.
However, let’s be direct about what the distinction does not promise. These strategies will not beat their peers and benchmarks every year. Their advantages boost the odds over a full market cycle, but there are no guarantees.
Types of Active Investing Strategies in Our Coverage
Active managers get to a portfolio by different routes.
Top-down managers start with macroeconomic trends, sectors, or geographies, then narrow down to individual securities. Bottom-up managers reverse the sequence, researching company financials, competitive position, and management quality, then building the portfolio security by security. Combination approaches use top-down views to set sector or regional tilts, then bottom-up research to choose the holdings inside them.
Factor strategies tilt systematically toward characteristics linked to excess returns over long periods, including value, momentum, quality, small size, and yield.
Value investing focuses on stocks trading below their estimate of intrinsic worth, while growth investing emphasizes companies expected to deliver above-average earnings or revenue growth over time. Momentum strategies work by investing in securities that have recently outperformed, based on the premise that market trends can persist for a period before reversing.
Discretionary managers make the calls themselves. Systematic strategies follow a defined, rules-based process without tracking an index, leaving more room to adjust than a strict index fund allows.
Two names within our coverage show some of these contrasts. Artemis UK Smaller Companies is a bottom-up approach, with stock selection built on 300 to 500 company meetings a year. Trojan runs a concentrated, benchmark-agnostic portfolio across equities, inflation-linked bonds, and gold, reflecting a broader view of where value sits.
A Look at Active Investing Strategies Across Asset Classes
The 62 convictions span three sections of the report, and the mix skews heavily toward equity. Membership is meant to endure, but it is reviewed. When a strategy's edge erodes, the pillar rating moves and the strategy comes off the list, as it did twice since the inaugural 2025 report.
Best Multi-Asset Strategies
The is the smallest section, with three strategies. Two are new this quarter: MFS Meridian Prudent Capital and MFS Meridian Prudent Wealth. Trojan is the lone holdover, run by Sebastian Lyon since the fund launched in 2001 and built around capital preservation.
Best Equity Strategies
The is the largest section by far, with 37 strategies. Seven newcomers joined: Artemis UK Smaller Companies, BlackRock Global Unconstrained Equity, Causeway Global Value, GQG Partners US Equity, Resolution Capital Global Property Securities, T. Rowe Price Global Focused Growth, and WCM Select Global Growth Equity.
There was one departure in this category. A strategy reset, significant portfolio changes, and a management reshuffle substantially diminished the appeal of Fidelity European Dynamic Growth, previously one of the strongest options in European equities. The People pillar fell to Above Average from High and Process to Average from High, effective July 13, 2026.
Best Fixed-Income Strategies
We noted 22 fixed-income strategies, with five newcomers: BlueBay Global Investment Grade Corporate Bond, MFS Meridian Euro Credit, PIMCO GIS Emerging Local Bond, PIMCO GIS Emerging Markets Bond Fund, and PIMCO GIS Mortgage Opportunities.
There was one departure. The retirement of veteran manager Peter Palfrey, paired with surprisingly elevated analyst turnover, dampened conviction in Loomis Sayles Core Plus Bond without eliminating it. Its People rating fell to Above Average from High on September 1, 2026.
Among those that stayed, PIMCO GIS US Short-Term stands out for veteran leadership under Jerome Schneider and a time-tested process among ultrashort bond peers.
How to Put This List to Work
For advisors building or refining client portfolios, this is a shortlist to start due diligence, not a substitute. The value sits in the why behind each of our picks. Durable, structural advantages in People and Process are still not a guarantee of outperformance in any given year.
Advisors should set client expectations to match. Even Double High convictions will trail their peers and benchmarks in some years, and that conversation will land better before it happens than after. The pairing of an exceptional team and a proven process improves the odds over a full cycle.
Download the full report for the complete entries and exits list and category-by-category performance tables. You can also find these and other strategies in Morningstar Direct, where you can screen and compare them side by side against peers, categories, and client mandates.
