Chelverton expects small-cap downturn to continue

Group warns many smaller company stocks are suffering from a lack of capital injections from venture capitalists or management teams

Small-cap stocks are set to continue to lose value throughout the next 12 months, Chelverton Growth Trust warns. In its six-month results to 28 February, the investment trust revealed its net assets had fallen nearly 50% from £4.9m to £2.5m, having been £6m on 29 February, 2008. The vehicle's net asset value per share also halved, from 33.18p to 16.87p over the same period, during which the company made £2.4m pre-tax losses. The small cap-biased fund is benchmarked against the FTSE All Share and will also buy shares in unlisted companies, where the managers anticipate Aim flotation. ...