Miton's Ford: Small caps often struggle in late stage of cycle

Tax cuts to benefit US small caps

US smaller companies disappointed relative to large caps in 2017. But this year, performance has been more even with smaller companies actually nudging ahead.

We see three potential drivers for this better relative performance for smaller companies to continue.  First is the change in outlook for the large-cap technology stocks, which were responsible for much of the S&P 500 index's gains last year. Trading in market-leading stocks, including Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet (Google's parent company), has become much more volatile amid the group's unfavourable media coverage.  Facebook's issues with data privacy have been well documented, but investors now also have to grapple with far greater scrutiny over how Amazon is able to mini...