To provide investors with long term capital growth through direct and indirect investment in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of securities which, at the time of initial investment by the Fund, are constituent stocks of the Numis Smaller Companies index or listed on the Alternative Investment Market.
Amid fresh concerns over the stability of the global financial system, UK equities suffered through their worst month in 21 years. Smaller companies performed slightly worse than larger ones. While government and central bank measures to provide liquidity and address "troubled" assets on bank balance sheets should reduce panic in financial markets, the declining fortunes of the financial sector do not bode well for the UK economy.The Fund underperformed its benchmark in September. The largest overall contribution during the month came in the shape of Axon Group. The Computer Software & Services firm is currently the subject of a biding war which helped shares in the firm surge in September. On the downside a number of negative contributions combined to offset the contribution from Axon Group with the most notable coming from Interserve, Charter and WSP Group.