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.