BIAM takes Rehab race top place

Big moves were afoot in the Rehab Great Investment Race last month, with all but two of the seven players taking a new position as March began.

The most significant moves came at the top, with Chris Reilly at Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) stealing first place from Montgomery Oppenheim.

The move, which pushed BIAM up from fourth to the top spot, came on Mr Reilly's 100 per cent holding in US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Mr Reilly could see no reason to move out of the position, which delivered a 7.3 per cent monthly gain, as February closed.

Biting at BIAM's heels at the end of the month was Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM), with Roy Asher's team moving from third to second place.

February saw Mr Asher benefiting from the short-term addition of some Bank of Ireland to his diversified portfolio, which already included Hong Kong diversified trading company Jardine Matheson, UK housebuilder Westbury and Taiwan Semiconductors.

He sold off all of his holdings late in the month and had locked his profits into cash as March started.

Third place at the end of February was held by AIB Investment Managers, where Lance Graham led a move up from fifth position. The jump came on a monthly gain of 10 per cent - the best in the race for February.

Mr Graham's only change to his portfolio over the month was the purchase of more shares in Swiss-based resources firm, Xstrata. He continued to hold this, as well as a position in stocks including copper miner Antofagasta, as the month turned.

Montgomery Oppenheim slipped from first to fourth place in February after posting a 1.4 per cent monthly decline.

The performance was held back by a position in Iona Technologies but fund manager Michael Lernihan had some good luck when he sold out of the firm's Irish equity fund, and consequently out of Elan, before the pharmaceutical firm staged its spectacular fall at the end of the month.

Mr Lernihan purchased a holding in chipmaker Vitesse Semiconductor Group in the middle of the month, adding to stakes in UTV, Iona, Yellow Roadway and a Japanese exchange-traded fund.

A third of his allocation was in cash at the end of February.

Less fortunate on Elan was Setanta Asset Management, where James McSweeney suffered on timing and slipped from second to fifth place in the process.

He had brought his allocation up to €130,000 by February 25th but was knocked back to €120,771 (a small loss for the month) when Elan took its tumble.

Referring to "the beauty of the markets", Mr McSweeney was philosophical on the move. It simply makes the challenge for the final stages of the race even greater, he said.

Sixth place at the end of the month was held by Irish Life Investment Managers.

Mr Séamus Magner delivered a 5.4 per cent monthly return on some of the most active trade in the race.

He did well on buying and selling Ryanair, C&C and K-Mart, before converting all of his gains into cash at the end of the month.

Last but not least, and holding the seventh position, was Standard Life Investments, where Tony Hood's holding rose by 1.5 per cent on his position in British Airways.