Investec UK Smaller Companies

The five star-rated Investec UK Smaller Companies fund is one of the least volatile and best performing funds in its category over three years.

Morningstar.co.uk Editors 30 March, 2004 | 6:09PM
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Daniel Hanbury, who has run the fund for nearly four years, uses a stockpicking approach to construct the portfolio. He scores potential investments using a four-factor model to look for, among other criteria, high quality undervalued firms.

The fund avoids really small, so-called micro-cap, growth firms. Because, unlike his predecessor, Mr Hanbury is not a contrarian investor he avoids buying shares in these generally illiquid firms when others in the market are trying to purchase them.

Its focus on value characteristics meant the fund was unable to invest in some of the lower quality smaller firms that rallied so strongly in

2003. However, it has still risen significantly over the last 12 months. The fund was up over 66% over the last year, as of yesterday, ahead of both the FTSE Small Cap ex Investment Trusts index and the category average.

Yet Mr Hanbury tends to buy shares more like a growth than a value investor. He says: “We tend to wait for it [the share price] to go through the bottom and come up the other side.

“We’ll buy in slightly late and we will probably sell out slightly late.”

The number of holdings has crept towards the top of its 60-90 range over the past few years. This was partly a deliberate decision and partly because of market conditions.

Internal research at Investec showed that the results from using their investment process improved when the team invested in more of the firms that met their criteria rather than simply choosing among them. Also, increased uncertainty in the stockmarkets has led Mr Hanbury to reduce the size of the individual holdings and increase the overall number.

The cash position of the fund has also increased over recent months. The manager says this is a calculated investment decision as he is cautious about some of the high company valuations in the market. However, he is planning to reinvest it when he spots the right investment opportunities.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Ninety One UK Smaller Companies A £ Acc5,201.18 GBP-0.36Rating
Ninety One UK Smaller Companies A Inc4,637.41 GBP-0.36Rating

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