Miton's Williams forced to put small-cap expansion on hold

Gervais Williams, manager of the Miton UK Smaller Companies fund, has said negative sentiment towards small caps has delayed plans to double the number of stocks in the portfolio.

Last year Williams said he intended to increase the number of holdings in the £124m fund to almost 200, up from 88 at the time. But total positions have subsequently decreased slightly, with the portfolio holding 85 stocks as of 31 May. Williams said his desire to retain a “decent” holding in micro-cap companies has forced him to wait for the fund to increase in size before investing. The portfolio’s assets peaked at £182m last April but have since fallen to £124m as small-cap funds fell out of favour with investors. Williams said: “If [a micro-cap stock] has a market cap of £10m a...