MONTANARO UK SMALLER COMPANIES: Industry veteran Charles Montanaro seeks to outperform rival Numis
WHAT IS IT? Run by Charles Montanaro, an industry veteran, its goal is to outperform the Numis Smaller Companies Index.
WHAT DOES THE MANAGER INVEST IN? Any company which has a market value smaller than that of the largest company in its benchmark index.
Its top holdings include financial software company Integrafin, paving firm Marshalls, marketing merchandise business 4imprint and food packaging firm Hilton Food Group.
WHAT DO THE EXPERTS LIKE? Ben Yearsley, director of Shore Financial Planning, says: ‘Small cap stocks were looking cheap at the start of the year and look even cheaper now.’
He adds that buying into smaller companies is one way to access the ‘growth’ trend, since they will often be scaling up without having to pay the premiums associated with typical growth companies such as Amazon and Ocado.
ANY DOWNSIDES? Yearsley adds: ‘If you think the impact [of the coronavirus crisis] will be relatively short term, then this could be an interesting time to buy.’