Our expert panel reveals the funds it thinks will soon become household names.

This article first appeared on Your Money .

When it comes to investment funds, the financial press is often quick to praise the winners and lambast the losers.

However, with over 2,000 UK-registered funds in the investment universe, there are plenty of products that don’t receive the attention they richly deserve.

Some are left on the side-lines for the right reasons but, according to our expert panel, there are a number of funds that are steadily rising up the ranks and could soon become household names.

Here are nine of the best:

JO Hambro Capital Management UK Dynamic

Manager Alex Savvides has run the JOHCM UK Dynamic fund since its launch in June 2008.

Savvides is very process driven and splits his portfolio three ways: 40% recovery, 30% restructuring and 30% hidden growth today.

Ben Yearsley, head of investment research at Charles Stanley Direct, says: It is a small fund with a great performance over its four year life. I like his approach, and he articulates it very well.

Yearsley is not the only one to praise this fund. Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, says: Alex is part of a strong UK team and has performed very well since launch. He runs a concentrated portfolio and has outperformed in 4 of the last 5 years and I am amazed his fund is still so small.

Hermes US SMID Cap Equity

Hermes Fund Managers launched its US small and mid-cap equity fund — based on a strategy run by its US team for over a decade — in the UK market last autumn.

Paul Niven, head of multi-asset investment at F&C, says manager Robert Anstey is an outstanding investor in what is a capacity constrained space.

US small and mid-sized companies are priced less efficiently than their large cap counterparts and Robert has harnessed this fact to deliver out-performance of the Russell 2500 in seven of the last 11 years, Niven says.

Chelverton UK Equity Income

The Chelverton UK Equity Income fund, managed by David Taylor and David Horner, is recommended by Gary Potter, F&C’s co-head of multi-manager.

The fund invests in UK small and mid-cap companies, with 50% of the portfolio allocated to each sector.

It has been a fantastic performer returning 17% year-to-date compared to the sector average of 12%.

Baillie Gifford European

There are several deservedly popular heavyweight European Equity funds favoured by retail investors but this 75m hidden gem has returned 67% over the last five years versus a sector average of just 29%, placing it 5/87 in its peer group, says Rob Pemberton, investment director at HFM Columbus.

The managers — Thomas Coutts, Stephen Paice and Paul Faulkner — have four main aspects to their investment philosophy: quality growth, long-term, active and contrarian.

This article continues.