Oppenheim and AIB both paid the price for investing in footwear firm, but Bank of Ireland had a very good month for a change, writes Ciarán Brennan

RUNAWAY LEADERS Oppenheim Investment Managers slipped up in the Rehab Great Investment Race in April, shedding 18.9 per cent from its fund.

That made it the worst performer of the month.

Despite the Irish market growing by 2.61 per cent in April, it was a month to forget for the team which had up to now been delivering stellar performances.

It had the effect of knocking more than 50 per cent off its total return to date, bringing it down to 124.9 per cent.

An active trading style saw fund manager Stephen Hynes buy 11 stocks and sell 10 during the month, eventually holding on to just two stocks into May - Xsunx Inc and Ultrashort QQQ.

A loss of €114,300 on the sale of 20,000 stocks in footwear company Crocs, which has been under pressure for the past few months, hit the portfolio's value.

Nevertheless, Oppenheim's original €100,000 investment now stands at €244,925, head and shoulders above its nearest competitor.

While the gap to its nearest rival has narrowed, it stands at a massive €124,453 and the prospect of overall victory still looks to be comfortably in the hands of the current leader.

Bank of Ireland Asset Management was the star performer during April, delivering an impressive 11.9 per cent return, bringing its race pot to €78,254 and dragging it out of last place.

By reversing the previous month's fortunes, it has taken fourth place at the expense of rival AIB Investment Managers.

Again, fund manager Pat Cunningham resisted making any change to his compact portfolio, a policy which at last paid off.

He continued to hold just four stocks - infrastructure group Macquarie; Sonic Healthcare, an Australian medical diagnostics company; Hong Kong property developer Sun Hung Kai; and French services company Vallourec - and made no trades in April.

While its modest return of 1.3 per cent was down from the previous month, Irish Life Investment Managers' performance was enough to consolidate second place and bring it back into the black.

It has now delivered a 0.5 per cent total return to date with its fund standing at €100,472. Fund manager Seamus Magner continued to trade his portfolio actively, buying and selling 11 stocks during the month and holding on to just three - Expro International, AMR and British Energy.

KBC Asset Management stemmed some losses from March, but it still shed 1.6 per cent in April and the value of its fund is now down 9.3 per cent at €90,695. However, it held on to its third place position.

Fund manager Noel O'Halloran has maintained his "steady as she goes" approach, making no trades in April and holding just five stocks - CRH, Smartrac, Acciona, Tele Norte Leste Participcoes and Cia de Saneamento Basico.

Despite putting in the second best performance for April, with a return of 3.2 per cent, AIB Investment Managers found itself relegated to last place overall. It has now lost 24.2 per cent of its total fund to date.

Fund manager Keith Johnstone said he decided to sell its holding in footwear company Crocs following another profit warning.

"We are positive on energy stocks and bought Tullow Oil with the proceeds," he said. "The remaining holdings performed well with National Oil well up 19 per cent, Flir Systems up 16 per cent and Nintendo up 9 per cent. Tullow Oil was up 6 per cent over the period and we held it."

The fund is invested in four stocks - Tullow Oil, Flir Systems, National Oilwell and Nintendo.

The overall profit raised so far now stands at €70,199. Any profits made from the Rehab Race will be used to help autistic children and their families in Ireland.