Some of the better performing funds this year such as Katana and Platypus, include those that ditched resource stocks

Some of the better performing funds this year such as Katana and Platypus, include those that ditched resource stocks. SMH reports on the Mercer fund data: Data from research house Mercer found that the average long only Australian shares fund manager beat the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index by 1.5 per cent during the year to May. Katana's benchmark unaware strategy returned 30.4 per cent during the period, driven by the manager's exit of big resource companies such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. Katana portfolio manager, Romano Sala Tenna, said National Australia Bank, Insurance Australia Group and Automotive Holdings were the biggest contributors to the fund's outperformance. We also sold a large position in Macquarie, he said. Don Williams, chief investment officer at Platypus Asset Management which came in fourth in the Mercer rankings, said Australian investors are increasingly looking at growth stock as their risk appetite improves. (VIEW LINK)