Moreover, figures show the latter two categories attracted a healthy portion of new money from investors.

The asset allocation property category of funds had the highest risk-adjusted return out of all the various categories of unit trusts over the 12 months to end-September.

In other words, it provided the highest return per unit of risk taken.

For the technically minded, property funds on the whole had a Sharpe ratio (a measure that compares risk and return) of 0.97 over the period and a return of 54.96%, according to Cadiz.

One of the more popular sectors with investors over the past quarter in terms of inflows, according to the Association of Collective Investments, is the asset allocation absolute and real return category.

This category of fund proved a very safe bet for investors’ money, as Cadiz’s research shows it was the category that delivered the next best risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio of 0.82, returns of 21.61%), after property funds.

Looking at risk and return in the asset allocation prudential medium equity category — the funds that are suitable for retirement money and the third most-popular category for new flows of retail money this past quarter, according to the ACI — the Re:CM Core Managed fund stands out.

Cadiz’s research shows that over the 24 months to end-September, Regarding Capital Management’s balanced fund — which invests across various asset classes — took the least amount of risk per unit of return with investors’ money.

Its Sharpe ratio was 0.87 because of its very low risk levels (of a similar level to the risk associated with bonds).

Although Re:CM Core Managed delivered a respectable 29.02% over the past year, in terms of pure returns this was less than the sector average of 32.74% and quite a way behind Foord Balanced’s 47.08% and Coronation Balanced Plus’s 41.93%. — Chris Needham