Rehab Great Investment Race: Teams surge ahead with average gain of over 6 per cent in 'great investment' contest.

The fourth Rehab Great Investment Race powered into action at the end of 2005, with the six participating teams notching up a collective gain of 6.1 per cent for the charity.

The growth, which came against a strong market backdrop, was led by AIB Investment Managers, which ended the first five weeks of the race firmly in first place. Lance Graham presided over a gain of 15 per cent for the initial phase, having bought and held five stocks.

The best performer among the group was UK computer chip supplier, Wolfson Microelectronic, which rose by about 30 per cent over the period. The company is benefiting from the current obsession with iPods and Xboxes, both of which use Wolfson components.

Graham also got a boost from bluetooth chipmaker, CSR, and on Sandisk, which makes flash memory for products such as digital cameras. Japanese property company, Mitsui Fudosan, also delivered a healthy return. Graham retained all of his positions, including a holding in UK gaming group Rank, as January began.

Closest on AIB's tail at the end of December was Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM), where Roy Asher registered a monthly increase of 9.1 per cent. Asher's best play over the five weeks was Grafton, which rose by about 17 per cent after recovering from fears about exposure to the UK market.

HIM also did well on George Wimpey - the UK's largest housebuilder - after buying the stock when it was undervalued, according to its sector.

Pfizer was, according to Asher, more of a "rough ride". HIM sold the stock before the end of the month, recording a gain of about 5 per cent before selling out. He stayed in Grafton and Wimpey, and also had a position in Swedish high-tech engineering firm, Sandvik. Asher said the Sandvik investment was mostly about the dividend yield of some 3 per cent.

Third place at the end of December went to last year's race winner, Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM). Chris Reilly stuck to his reliable one-stock strategy in the first five weeks, even going so far as to stick with last year's choice: Pfizer. BIAM finished 2005 with a 7.7 per cent gain in place, with Reilly professing himself content with Pfizer on the basis of both valuation and dividend.

Irish Life Investment Managers took fourth place at the end of December with a gain of 4.2 per cent. Séamus Magner gained on French energy firm EDF and also did well on technical situations in Expedia and Discovery Holdings. He registered a small loss on KPN and held nothing but Eircom as January began. In fifth place as the first phase closed was Oppenheim Investment Managers, where Richard Dunn delivered a 0.5 per cent return on active trading.

The biggest drag on Oppenheim's performance over the five weeks was Eircom, which fell after the Swiss government rejected the idea of a Swisscom takeover of the telecoms group. This overshadowed the remainder of Dunn's selection, which included IEX-listed Getmobile and US company Palomar Medical Technologies, which produces laser equipment for treatment such as hair removal and cellulite reduction. Oppenheim also bought into Zeon Coro, a Japanese company that makes chemicals for LCD screens and chip firm, Microchip Technology. Dunn said a further buy into Canadian copper miner, Falconbridge, was partly a mergers and acquisitions play.

He sold Eircom and part of his Microchip holding during December but held the rest of the portfolio into January.

Sixth place in December went to Setanta Asset Management, where James McSweeney held back from the market as he waited for "the right opportunity".