Economic Advantage team

Meet the team

The award-winning Economic Advantage team is headed by Anthony Cross, who joined Liontrust from Schroders in 1997. Victoria Stevens and Matt Tonge joined the team in 2015. Victoria was previously Deputy Head of Corporate Broking at FinnCap, while Matt had spent nine years on the Liontrust dealing desk, latterly winning an industry award for his work in mid and small cap stocks. Alex Wedge joined the team in March 2020 from N+1 Singer, where he had spent over seven years, latterly as a senior member of the equity sales team. Natalie Bell joined the team in August 2022, having previously been a member of the Liontrust Responsible Capitalism team where she led engagement with investee companies. Alex Game joined the team in May 2024 from Unicorn Asset Management, where he had spent nearly 10 years and where he co-managed a range of funds including two UK equity funds and an AIM portfolio service. Bobby Powar joined from Artemis in 2024. He has seven years of experience, three of those at Artemis and three at Ruffer.

Anthony Cross Anthony Cross joined Liontrust in 1997 and started managing Economic Advantage funds in 1998. Before moving to Liontrust, Anthony joined Schroder Investment Management as a graduate trainee, later becoming an equity analyst before joining the Smaller Companies team in 1994. Anthony Cross graduated in 1990 from Exeter University with a degree in Politics. Read more

Matt Tonge Matt Tonge joined the Economic Advantage team in 2015 to analyse small caps. Matt moved to the Liontrust trading desk in 2003 from Barclays Capital Asset Management and in 2014 was named Mid-Tier trader of the year by The Trade magazine. Read more

Victoria Stevens Victoria Stevens joined the Economic Advantage team in June 2015 to analyse investment opportunities primarily across the small cap universe. She was previously deputy head of corporate broking at finnCap and a senior reporter and diary editor at City AM.
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Alex Wedge Alex Wedge joined the Economic Advantage team in March 2020 and became a co-manager at the start of 2021. Alex moved from Singer Capital Markets, one of the largest dedicated small cap brokers in London, where he had spent over seven years, latterly as a senior member of the equity sales team. Read more

Natalie Bell Natalie joined the Economic Advantage team in August 2022 from the Responsible Capitalism team. Prior to joining Liontrust in February 2021, she was at EY for over six years as part of their Corporate Governance team. Read more

Alex Game Alex joined Liontrust in 2024 as a Fund Manager on the Economic Advantage team. He joined from Unicorn Asset Management, where he spent nearly 10 years and co-managed a range of funds, including two UK equity funds and an AIM portfolio service. Prior to this Alex spent two years at Stanhope Capital as an Associate Consultant. He is a CFA Charterholder and graduated in 2010 from Durham University with a degree in Physics. Read more

Bobby Powar Bobby Powar joined from Artemis in 2024. He has seven years of experience, three of those at Artemis and three at Ruffer. Read more

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Microlise

In the latest episode of the Stock Exchanges podcast, Nadeem Raza, CEO of Microlise tells Victoria about his 35-year journey with the company from his first role as software engineer in the late-80s all the way through to taking on the position of CEO.

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Our investment process

The process seeks to identify companies that possess intangible assets which produce barriers to competition and provide a durable competitive advantage that allows the companies to defy industry competition and sustain a higher than average level of profitability for longer than expected.

In the fund managers’ experience, the hardest characteristics for competitors to replicate are three classes of intangible asset: intellectual property, strong distribution channels and significant recurring business.

Other less powerful but nonetheless important intangible strengths include franchises and licenses; good customer databases and relationships; effective procedures and formats; strong brands and company culture

These intangible assets produce barriers to competition, protect margins and are capable, in the opinion of the fund managers, of reaping a financial advantage in the form of cash flow returns in excess of the cost of capital. A company that consistently generates excess cash flow returns will benefit from compounding as it reinvests this excess return into the business.

Every smaller company held in the Economic Advantage funds has at least 3% of its equity held by senior management and main board directors. Companies are also assessed for employee ownership below the senior management and board and changes in equity ownership are monitored.

In the fund managers' experience, the hardest characteristics for competitors to replicate are three classes of intangible asset: intellectual property, strong distribution channels and significant recurring business.

Economic Advantage team

UK Growth Fund

The Fund aims to deliver capital growth over the long term (5 years or more) by applying the Economic Advantage process, with the majority of the portfolio invested in FTSE 100 stocks.

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Economic Advantage team

Special Situations Fund

This is a multi-cap Fund that uses the Economic Advantage process to invest across the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and the AIM indices to deliver capital growth over the long term (5 years or more).

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Economic Advantage team

UK Smaller Companies Fund

The Fund, which has been managed by the Economic Advantage team since 1998, invests in UK smaller companies which must have a minimum 3% equity ownership by senior management.

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Economic Advantage team

UK Micro Cap Fund

The Fund applies the Economic Advantage process to invest the majority of the portfolio in the AIM index. Companies in the Fund must have a minimum 3% equity ownership by senior management.

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Economic Advantage team

GF Special Situations Fund

This is a Ireland-domiciled and multi-cap Fund that uses the Economic Advantage process to invest across the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and the AIM indices to deliver capital growth over the long term (5 years or more).

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Economic Advantage team

GF UK Growth Fund

The Ireland-domiciled Fund aims to deliver capital growth over the long term (5 years or more) by applying the Economic Advantage process, with the majority of the portfolio invested in FTSE 100 stocks.

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Economic Advantage team

Global Smaller Companies Fund

The Fund, which has been managed by the Economic Advantage team since 2025, invests in global smaller companies which must have a minimum 3% equity ownership by senior management.

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