The high flyer, who has been described as "superwoman" for juggling a large family and a lucrative financial career, beat 64 other fund managers to top the prestigious league tables, The Guardian reports.

Ms Horlick hit the headlines in 1997 when she was suspended by Morgan Grenfell for alleged disloyalty.

Daughter tragedy

She flew to the company's headquarters in Germany, followed by newspaper photographers, as part of her campaign to get her job back.

In January, she launched the UK arm of Soci�t� G�n�rale Asset Management (SGAM), which invests large sums for institutions such as pension funds.

Last November her 12-year-old daughter Georgina died of leukaemia, a disease she was diagnosed with at the age of two.

Ms Horlick and her husband Tim, another City banker have four younger children and are expecting another baby this summer.

Utilities boost

The Guardian reports that she has helped to attract some �2.5bn of funds into the new business venture that she founded with her former colleagues Keith Percy and John Richards.

The league tables produced by Combined Actuarial Performance Services, are the first full year's figures to be published since SGAM was established.

For every pound they invested they earned 15.4p profit - 6.2p more than the average and 13p more than most building society accounts.

The paper reports that it is understood the group's record was boosted by selling shares in utility companies such as electricity and water firms when they were highly rated and buying others that looked likely to benefit most when stock markets recovered from the shock of the Russian debt default and the rescue of a huge hedge rescue fund.