THE PICKS
Artemis US Smaller Companies
This £182m fund, run by former Threadneedle manager Cormac Weldon, is one of the newest to the market, reaching its three-year anniversary later this year. Mr Weldon is top of the sector since launch, returning 76 per cent versus the Russell 2000’s 56 per cent gain and a 54 per cent average for the sector. Add to this Mr Weldon’s record at Threadneedle and his ability becomes difficult to question. The fund has benefited recently from positive sentiment around financials and technology, which when combined account for almost half of the fund.
T Rowe Price US Smaller Companies Equity
This Luxembourg-domiciled fund has amassed more than $1.1bn (£840m) in assets, with investors unperturbed by a change in management towards the end of 2016. Ryan Burgess took over the portfolio last October, having joined the US asset manager in 2007. The vehicle has struggled in the past year with a focus on consumer stocks and an overweight to energy. However, over three years the team’s process has worked, delivering 75 per cent compared with the 70 per cent rise by its Russell 2500 benchmark.
EDITOR’S PICK
Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies
This $281m (£214m) strategy is also based in Luxembourg and has been managed by Christopher Berrier since launch in 2007. The manager favours technology and industrial companies, holding almost a third of the portfolio in the former – a significant overweight. He has avoided the perils of energy with no positions in the sector. This allocation has paid off as the fund is the group’s top performer over three years, returning 82 per cent against the 67 per cent rise for the Russell 2000 and an average of 65 per cent by its sector. The vehicle has also outperformed both its index and peer group across five years.
