Orbis’s local investment team has won the prestigious fund manager of the year award from UK financial publication Investment Week for the fourth year in a row.

The firm won the award for the managed 40 to 85 per cent shares category with the Orbis Global Balanced Fund.

According to the firm, investment performance was again a key factor behind the award.

Alec Cutler, Orbis director and portfolio manager, said over the 12 months to January 31, the fund meaningfully outpaced its peer group.

He added that the outperformance was driven primarily by security selection within equities. Close to 70 per cent of the capital the team deployed in equities beat the Morgan Stanley Capital International World Index.

“The winners won by considerably more than the losers lost,” Mr Cutler said. “It has been a satisfying year for the team. Our results came from strong stock picking rather than any big top-down calls, which is exactly how we like to win.”

Mr Cutler said they found excellent, overlooked businesses tied to some of the biggest themes of the moment — the AI infrastructure buildout, the rearmament of Europe, and the renewed appeal of gold as a store of value.

“We owned them before the crowd did,” he stated.

Semiconductor manufacturers were among the leading contributors, as Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Micron Technology all benefited from the surge in chip demand needed to support the global buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure, and each reported results that beat consensus estimates.

The portfolio’s defence-related holdings were also among the standout winners, benefiting from heightened geopolitical instability, increased global defence spending and European government commitments to future defence budgets.

Leading contributors included Hanwha Aerospace of South Korea, Italy’s Leonardo, the UK’s Rolls-Royce Holdings, and Germany’s Rheinmetall — the latter a name the team first bought when investors and politicians saw little need to invest in defence and deterrence.

Gold miners Barrick Mining and Newmont added to returns as well, with both companies reporting record quarterly cash flows on the back of a rising gold price, and both committing to enhanced dividends and further share buybacks.

The fund’s direct allocation to a gold-linked exchange-traded commodity also contributed as the gold price continued its climb.

Siemens Energy was another leading winner for the second year running, this time benefiting from surging demand for gas turbines amid the AI boom and rising electricity needs from data centres.

The German energy technology company’s results for the year ended September 2025 were strong, and management raised guidance for future years, pointing to continued growth in sales and margins.

Orbis said their team’s currency positioning also added value, driven by an underweight to a weakening American dollar and overweight exposure to the strengthening Norwegian krone, Brazilian real and Swedish krona.

The team included Ashley Lynn, Timo Smuts, Romari Tucker, Robyn Carroll, Ariana Curling, Londa Nxumalo, Mark Dunley-Owen and Jeffrey Miyamoto.

“We are a tight-knit group that works well together,” Mr Cutler said. “That makes a massive difference in this highly competitive endeavour. Our global opportunity set across asset classes means we are never lacking for research ideas, but it takes a team effort to cover that enormous landscape.”