Bestinvest says
Richard Smith, now the co-manager for the fund, has a record of delivering consistent results with lower volatility over a period of more than 20 years. His team mate Jonathan Brown was promoted to co-manager in May 2010 to smooth the hand over when Smith retires in a couple of years time. Relative to peer group funds, the manager has more of a focus on quality companies at a reasonable price, and whilst we like this approach given that Brown does not have a track record in his own right we took the decision to remove the fund from our buy list in 2011. We have other more highly rated funds in the UK small cap equity arena.
Benchmarked for performance purposes against the Numis Smaller Companies Index, this fund aims to achieve capital growth, investing mainly in shares of smaller companies in the UK, although the manager has a bias to the large, smaller companies. Stock selection is of more importance than sector strategy, although there will always be some exposure to most sectors. The manager takes a fundamental approach to investment and mainly target companies with understandable business models which are moderately priced in relation to their earnings potential (low P/E ratios). All companies must show good growth prospects with a competitive edge and feature strong financials.