European Smaller Companies (ticker: ESCT) was launched in 1990 and, until a few years ago, was known as TR European Growth. This trust was managed by Stephen Peak for its first two decades, with Ollie Beckett taking over in 2011, so it has only had two lead managers in 36 years. ESCT has returned about 12.5% per annum since inception, but performance under Peak was considerably more volatile, with bumper returns in the 1990s followed by a torrid decade in the 2000s. Over the last decade, its returns have been somewhat more consistent, and it has beaten its benchmark by about 1.5 percentage poi...
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JPMorgan European Discovery (ticker: JEDT) was launched in 1990 and was one of many Fleming-managed trusts that JPMorgan took on in the early 2000s. JEDT has been focused on European smaller companies throughout its existence and was managed by the team of Jim Campbell and Francesco Conte from 1998 until Campbell's departure in 2017. Conte now works with Edward Greaves, who has been a co-manager since 2016 and involved with the trust since 2011. JEDT runs a portfolio of around 50-70 stocks with an emphasis on value, quality, and momentum factors but with a very high level of portfolio turnover...
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European Smaller Companies (ticker: ESCT) was launched in 1990 and up until last year was known as TR European Growth. The trust was managed by Stephen Peak for its first two decades before Ollie Beckett took over in 2011. Over the last decade, it has comfortably beaten its benchmark and it has also been the best performer of the four European small-cap trusts. Compared to the other trusts in the sector, it is a little less growth-orientated and tends to invest in slightly smaller companies -- around half of its portfolio has a market cap of €1bn or less. ESCT has a fairly large portfolio of a...
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Montanaro European Smaller Companies has been a strong performer, particularly since George Cooke took over as the trust's manager in 2013. With a focus on quality and growth, it's put in a more pedestrian performance in recent months, but it looks like an interesting option for investors who want greater exposure to small caps but away from the usual suspects in the UK Smaller Companies sector
Both Jonathan and I are conscious that a lot of investment trusts are managed by gentlemen of a certain age who one day will be thinking about retiring. So our interest is often piqued when younger ma...
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