mid-cap

Neptune UK Opportunities fund

F&C manager Michael Ulrich has quit the firm, with management of his UK equity funds passing to Tom Wilson.

Dan Nickols manager of the Old Mutual UK Smaller Companies fund, asks if UK smaller companies should realistically be trading at a discount to their large cap peers

Levels of liquidity in the UK mid and small-cap space are again under scrutiny following Schroders' decision to overhaul two funds to guard against the problem.

Neptune Investment Management's Mark Martin has overhauled the £66m UK Opportunities fund since taking over as lead manager, turning it into a higher conviction portfolio with fewer positions.

Neptune is replacing the outgoing manager of the £66m UK Opportunities fund with its head of UK equities Mark Martin as it continues to restructure its fund range.

Mark Martin, manager of Neptune UK Mid Cap Fund

It has been a volatile year for mid caps, with the FTSE 250 falling 6% between March and April. But F&C's £20m UK Mid-Cap fund has considerably outperformed over the past year, maintaining the return profile it has enjoyed over three and five years.

Markets may have been volatile as autumn approached, but the Smith & Williamson Enterprise fund has returned more than 3% over the three months to 3 November 2014, and beaten peers in the Targeted Absolute Return sector.

The sell-off in UK smaller companies has created a far more attractive hunting ground for income seekers than that offered by larger companies, according to Charles Montanaro.