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UK Smaller Companies Fund

Bid Price 1736.250p as of 20/12/2024
Offer Price 1770.930p as of 20/12/2024
Fund launch date 08/01/1998
Fund size £855,615,861.72
Number of holdings 58

The Fund

The Fund is managed by Anthony Cross, Julian Fosh*, Victoria Stevens, Matt Tonge, Alex Wedge and Natalie Bell. The Fund aims to deliver capital growth over the long term (5 years or more) through using the Economic Advantage investment process to invest in UK equities. The process seeks to identify companies with a durable competitive advantage. All smaller companies in the Fund must have a minimum 3% equity ownership by senior management.

You are able to redeem your investment from the Fund at any time and there is no exit fee for doing so.

*Julian Fosh is on a leave of absence. The Economic Advantage funds continue to be managed by the other members of the team in Julian’s absence.

Read latest fund update
Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. Reference to specific securities is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any investment.
Key Information
Manager Inception Date of Fund
08/01/1998
Managed by Current Team for
26 years
Class Launch Date
28/01/2013
ISIN code
GB00B57TMD12
Comparator Benchmark 1
FTSE Small Cap ex Inv Co
Comparator Benchmark 2
IA UK Smaller Companies

Awards and Ratings

Morningstar Analyst Rating Morningstar Analyst Rating: Bronze
Morningstar Rating Morningstar Rating: 4
Square Mile Rated AA Square Mile Rating: AA
Rayner Spencer Mills RSMR Rated Fund
Adviser Centre - Established Adviser Centre: E (Established)
Fund Calibre Elite Rated Fund Calibre Elite Rated Fund

Meet the team

The award-winning Economic Advantage team have an average industry experience of 21 years. Anthony Cross joined Liontrust from Schroders in 1997 and launched the UK Smaller Companies Fund a year later. Anthony, who has managed the UK Smaller Companies and Special Situations funds since launch, was joined by Julian Fosh* in 2008. Julian had previously managed funds at Scottish Amicable Investment Managers, Britannic Investment Managers, Scottish Friendly Assurance Society and Saracen Fund Managers. Victoria Stevens and Matt Tonge joined the team in 2015, with the UK Micro Cap fund launching a year later. 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.

Meet the tea

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.

The Fund has hallmarks of a ‘quality’ style of investing – companies generating high, consistent returns with strong solvency or balance sheets. Quality companies will often outperform in difficult economic conditions. There is a tilt away from companies characterised as ‘value’ – typically companies whose shares appear cheap when assessed on measures of tangible asset value. Value companies often perform well when interest rates rise.

Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. Reference to specific securities is not intended as a recommendation to purchase or sell any investment.

Performance

Performance since manager inception date (%)

Discrete performance (%)

As at previous quarter 12 months ending: Sep 24 Sep 23 Sep 22 Sep 21 Sep 20
Liontrust UK Smaller Companies 8.3 -1.6 -28.9 46.9 12.8
FTSE Small Cap ex Inv Co 22.4 12.7 -24.4 72.4 -12.7
IA UK Smaller Companies 16.1 2.2 -31.9 51.1 -0.4
Quartile Ranking 4 4 2 3 1

Cumulative performance (%)

As at previous day end 1 month 3 months 6 months YTD 1 year 3 years 5 years 10 years Since Inception
Liontrust UK Smaller Companies -1.4 -2.1 -6.6 -1.7 0.3 -22.1 10.1 141.8 2072.8
FTSE Small Cap ex Inv Co 1.2 -1.8 3.5 12.6 13.7 8.4 38.6 107.9 612.6
IA UK Smaller Companies -1.3 -4.5 -4.3 4.9 6.7 -17.6 5.3 83.7 1035.3
Quartile Ranking 2 1 4 4 4 3 2 1 -

Source: FE fundinfo as at 20/12/2024. Performance figures are shown in GBX. Total return performance figures are calculated net of costs and charges, on a bid price to bid price basis (mid to mid for OEICs) with net income (dividends) reinvested. Where applicable the quartile rank is for the primary share class within the sector. If your investment is made in a currency other than that used in the past performance calculation the return may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations.

Current positioning

Top 10 Holdings (%)

GLOBALDATA PLC
3.00
ALPHA GROUP INTERNATIONAL LTD
2.99
COHORT PLC
2.88
INTEGRAFIN HOLDINGS PLC
2.85
TATTON ASSET MGMT PLC
2.82
FINTEL PLC
2.80
Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLC Ord 0.1P WI
2.80
AJ BELL PLC
2.76
CRANEWARE PLC
2.64
ON THE BEACH GROUP PLC
2.39

Sector Breakdown (%)

Industrials
25.21
Financials
22.45
Technology
19.93
Health Care
9.61
Consumer Discretionary
9.04
Cash & Cash Equivalents
6.27
Consumer Staples
5.60
Real Estate
1.62
Basic Materials
0.22

Geographic Breakdown (%)

UK
93.73
Cash & Cash Equivalents
6.27

Capitalisation (%)

Additional Information
Minimum initial investment
£5,000,000
Minimum additional investment
£100,000
Ex-dividend date
1 May (Final)
Distribution date
30 June (Final)
Sedol code
B57TMD1
Charges
Initial charge
-
Ongoing Charges Figure
1.32%
Included within the OCF is the Annual Management Charge
1.25%

For more information on the OCF, see our costs and charges page.

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Key Risks 

Past performance does not predict future returns. You may get back less than you originally invested. The Fund may invest in companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) which is primarily for emerging or smaller companies. The rules are less demanding than those of the official List of the London Stock Exchange and therefore companies listed on AIM may carry a greater risk than a company with a full listing. As the Fund is primarily exposed to smaller companies there may be liquidity constraints from time to time, i.e. in certain circumstances, the fund may not be able to sell a position for full value or at all in the short term. This may affect performance and could cause the fund to defer or suspend redemptions of its shares. In addition the spread between the price you buy and sell units will reflect the less liquid nature of the underlying holdings. Outside of normal conditions, the Fund may hold higher levels of cash which may be deposited with several credit counterparties (e.g. international banks). A credit risk arises should one or more of these counterparties be unable to return the deposited cash. Counterparty Risk: any derivative contract, including FX hedging, may be at risk if the counterparty fails. ESG Risk: In reference to any component (where applicable) of a fund's investment process that uses external ESG data, there may be limitations to the availability, completeness or accuracy of ESG information from third-party providers, or inconsistencies in the consideration of ESG factors across different third party data providers, given the evolving nature of ESG. There is no guarantee that an absolute return will be generated over a three year time period or within another time period.

 

Disclaimer

This is a marketing communication. Before making an investment, you should read the relevant Prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) and/or PRIIP/KID, which provide full product details including investment charges and risks. It should not be construed as advice for investment in any product or security mentioned, an offer to buy or sell units/shares of Funds mentioned, or a solicitation to purchase securities in any company or investment product. Examples of stocks are provided for general information only to demonstrate our investment philosophy. The investment being promoted is for units in a fund, not directly in the underlying assets. This information and analysis is believed to be accurate at the time of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Whilst care has been taken in compiling the content, no representation or warranty is given, whether express or implied, by Liontrust as to its accuracy or completeness, including for external sources (which may have been used) which have not been verified.

Fund literature
UK Smaller Companies Fund
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