
Awards Information
Awards Categories
Stepping into its 21st year, the Benchmark Fund of the Year Awards continues to evolve, focusing on innovation, resilience, and sustainability. We acknowledge fund strategies that excel in investment performance, risk management, and ESG practices. By honoring these achievements, we inspire growth and innovation, fostering a community that balances financial success with sustainable impact.
General Information
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Benchmark Fund of the Year Awards pushes the envelope to reach new heights in driving best practices and sustainability with its methodology that recognizes a fund strategy performing outstandingly in investment performance, risk management, and ESG performance.
Key dates
SUBMISSION ACTIVITES | DATES |
---|---|
Entry Open | April 1, 2025 |
Awards Briefing | April 2-3 & 9, 2025 |
Entry Close | April 25, 2025 |
Submission Period | April 11, 2025 - May 23, 2025 |
Judging Period | May 09 - June 02, 2025 |
The Gatekeeper Forum | May 27 - 29, 2025 |
Results Announcement | June 06, 2025 |
Awards Ceremony | To be confirmed |
Entry Fees
TYPE OF ENTRY | FEE |
---|---|
Package 1: Up to 8 entries | USD4,800 |
Package 2: Up to 12 entries | USD7,000 |
Additional Entries with any package | USD 980 per entry |
A-la-carte Entry | USD1,500 per entry |
The Gatekeeper Forum ("TGF")
The Gatekeeper Forum is a sub-set of the judging process with three to five jurors holding a two-way conversation with the manager of a contesting strategy. The forum allows the shortlisted contestants’ CIO or Portfolio Manager to showcase how they're running a profitable strategy and respond to technical questions raised by the gatekeepers. The Forum is a highly curated platform that connects both the buy and sell side of funds and empowers gatekeepers from Private Banks, Institutions, Foundations, and Single and Multi-Family Offices to look under the hood before they invest. Another purpose of the Gatekeeper Forum is to promote investment clarity and transparency.
The interaction between senior fund house representatives and our jurors can reveal the underlying idea generation and philosophy of the contesting strategies from multiple perspectives, particularly from a qualitative and ESG perspective. Judges will be presented with independent financial and sustainability performances provided by Morningstar and BlueOnion together with narratives of the challenges provided by the shortlisted candidates. Only invited jurors can select the sessions they are interested in. The forum was held virtually last year, with managers and jurors joining from all over the world and this year the forum will be conducted in a hybrid format.
Adeline Tan, FIA
Wealth Business Leader, Hong Kong, Mercer

Elsa Pau
Group CEO,
The BlueOnion Group

Freddie Cheng
Principal, Head of MPF Business, Hong Kong, Wealth, Mercer

Dr. Gloria Siu
Chief Executive,
Gain Miles Group

Joanne (Jo) Murphy
Alternative Industry Senior Executive

Michael Atkinson
Partner, Financial Services, PwC Hong Kong

Entry Guide
Please download the entry guide here.
To enter, the fund best exemplifies your capability, must:
✓ have a minimum three year track record
✓ provide the oldest share class fund as best exemplifies
✓ have an ISIN code
✓ provide prospectus or fact sheetThe strategy with the highest final score in its peer group wins the Best-in-Class award. Up to two Outstanding Achiever awards will be given to Strategies within a 5% margin below the Best-in-Class.
Judges will evaluate the fund based on the alignment level with the EU's SFDR Article 8 and 9 regulatory technical standards for sustainable impact. An independent ESG and key sustainability metrics report of the funds submitted by the candidates will be drawn from BlueOnion to demonstrate the walking the talks of the funds' ESG scoring, Risk ranking, and rating, as well as the Paris Agreement's Temperature alignment against their peers.
3 Steps to the Title:
Step 1: – Decide which investment strategies you would like to put forward.
Step 2: – Fill out the Multiple Choice Questionnaire for each entered category. Due to increasing entries yearly, we can no longer offer each fund an opportunity to the Gatekeeper Forum. To present the best of the best in front of the judges, candidates who have met the qualifying threshold will be shortlisted to enter the Gatekeeper Forum. These shortlisted candidates are determined by the quality of the answers provided in the questionnaire.
Step 3: – Attend The Gatekeeper Forum, where judges will rate their interviews with the PM/CIO based on the criteria specified for each type of award. This is a subjective process, and the judges will be provided with the submissions, the independent financial performance reporting provided by Morningstar, and the sustainability performance by BlueOnion. The forum is highly curated, and only the PM, CIO, or Product Specialists are invited to meet the Senior Gatekeepers in person. During the 30-minute session, 3-5 jurors will ask in-depth questions along the five critical pillars to further understand team practices. Jurors signed up/assigned to a particular peer group will score based on their experience with the fund house and team and the evidence presented.
Other Rules:
Submitting Materials for Multiple Regions – If you are entering the same category for more than one region, you may use the same information, documents, and flagship fund across all the areas. For example, you've entered your global fixed-income strategy for Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. You may use the same information for all three regions. You would still need to complete the submission for each region separately. Submit all the answers and documents for the first region, then simply input the related submission ID for the other regions.
Submitting Materials for Multiple Strategies – Separate groups of jurors will evaluate different product types, so please make sure there is one submission per strategy. Please submit separate entries for each system, except Pillar 5-Corporate Strength (only need to submit this once for all entries). DO NOT send one request to represent different strategies.
Merging Categories – To ensure the quality of the awards, categories with less than three funds participating may be incorporated into a larger category of the same kind without prior notice.
- Key DatesHong Kong & SingaporeTaiwanEntry OpenApril 1, 2025Coming Soon!Awards BriefingApril 2-3 & 9, 2025Entry CloseApril 25, 2025Submission PeriodApril 11, 2025 - May 23, 2025Judging PeriodMay 09 - June 02, 2025The Gatekeeper ForumMay 27 - 29, 2025Results AnnouncementJune 06, 2025Awards CeremonyTo be confirmed
- TYPE OF ENTRYFEEPackage 1: Up to 8 entriesUSD4,800Package 2: Up to 12 entriesUSD7,000Additional Entries with any packageUSD 980 per entryA-la-carte EntryUSD1,500 per entry
The Gatekeeper Forum is a sub-set of the judging process with three to five jurors holding a two-way conversation with the manager of a contesting strategy. The forum allows the shortlisted contestants’ CIO or Portfolio Manager to showcase how they're running a profitable strategy and respond to technical questions raised by the gatekeepers. The Forum is a highly curated platform that connects both the buy and sell side of funds and empowers gatekeepers from Private Banks, Institutions, Foundations, and Single and Multi-Family Offices to look under the hood before they invest. Another purpose of the Gatekeeper Forum is to promote investment clarity and transparency.
The interaction between senior fund house representatives and our jurors can reveal the underlying idea generation and philosophy of the contesting strategies from multiple perspectives, particularly from a qualitative and ESG perspective. Judges will be presented with independent financial and sustainability performances provided by Morningstar and BlueOnion together with narratives of the challenges provided by the shortlisted candidates. Only invited jurors can select the sessions they are interested in. The forum was held virtually last year, with managers and jurors joining from all over the world and this year the forum will be conducted in a hybrid format.Available after the Awards Briefing on April 2-3, 2025
Book a Briefing Session
Adeline Tan, FIA
Wealth Business Leader, Hong Kong, Mercer

Elsa Pau
Group CEO,
The BlueOnion Group

Freddie Cheng
Principal, Head of MPF Business, Hong Kong, Wealth, Mercer

Dr. Gloria Siu
Chief Executive,
Gain Miles Group

Joanne (Jo) Murphy
Alternative Industry Senior Executive

Michael Atkinson
Partner, Financial Services, PwC Hong Kong
