Advance hires fledgling small cap manager

By Lachlan Gilbert

AdvanceFunds Managementhas launched a new small caps fund and hired specialist manager Jenkins Investment Management as its portfolio manager.

Advance believes that with many small caps funds closing to new investors after reaching their optimal sizes, there is renewed demand for new players on the investment block to make an impact in the small cap sector.

In recent times,Perpetual,INGandJB Werehave all limited access to their respective small cap funds after reaching what they considered an optimal size.

Jenkins will manage Advance’s Australian Smaller Companies Fund with an aim to provide long-term capital growth over five years, investing in smaller listed companies with a market capitalisation of around $1.2 billion.

Jenkins, which began operations in 1998 and has $150 million under management, is described by managing director Paul Jenkins as “traditional value biased”.

The manager has outperformed the Small Ordinaries index by more than eight per cent in the past 12 months.

Advance head of marketing and products Eammon Roles says Jenkins’ track record as a small cap manager was one of the reasons it was selected to manage Advance’s small caps fund.

“Jenkins is an emerging Australian equities manager with a specialisation in small companies and a three-year track record delivering strong and consistent active returns for clients,” Roles says.

The new Advance fund aims to outperform the Small Ordinaries index by five per cent, before fees, and was opened to investors on August 19, 2002.