Steve Johnson’s Forager Funds Management has returned to the top of Mercer’s investment survey beating his fund manager rivals over one year by embracing rather than fighting the huge amount of passive money flowing on to the ASX.

Forager’s $172 million Australian Shares Fund returned 21.7 per cent before fees in the 12 months to March 31, smashing the S&P/ASX 300 Index’s 2.6 per cent return and trouncing 123 other equity strategies by a huge margin – the second-ranked Chester Opportunities Fund rose 13 per cent.