A recent stock exchange announcement revealed the board of the Premier Miton UK Microcap investment trust are pondering winding the company up after 40 per cent of shareholders redeemed their shares, drastically reducing the size of the trust.
As far as portfolio managers go, it will not be a major shock to learn none of the ones we cover have ever held this trust.
For a start, the antipathy towards investment trusts among allocators is well-known. But exposure to UK microcaps is a niche pursuit. Gresham House UK Microcap and Liontrust UK Microcap have one holder each but that is it.
The Premier Miton trust is managed by Gervais Williams and Martin Turner, a storied duo with a penchant for UK smaller companies. But only one of their funds is owned by a DFM we monitor.
The fund in question is Premier Miton Multi-Cap Income, which appears in three of the portfolios we monitor, and which has had no new buyers or sellers since 2020.
It is £394mn in size and, probably because of the prevalence of small caps within the portfolio, it has sharply underperformed.
The hugely volatile nature of the fund can be seen in the fact it is top quartile this year to date, and was the absolute top performer in the sector in the 2020 calendar year, indicating the fund does well during periods when rates are being cut and liquidity more plentiful.
Evenlode Income, with its focus on quality large caps and its lower volatility, remains the most popular UK equity income fund in our database by some distance - with Artemis Income also popular.
But Montanaro UK Income and Chelverton UK Equity Income - two more out-and-out small cap income funds - also have a growing following with five and four allocators holding them respectively.
Of course, times can change. If the Fed and Bank of England continue with the script as markets expect, and if rates come down and growth picks up, then it could be Williams and Turner who enjoy a spell in the sun.
But that is a bet on the UK economy and while some are taking that bet, based on the UK equity income funds which are most popular, portfolio managers are choosing to make it with an out-and-out small cap fund rather than a multi-cap fund.
