The VT Downing Unique Opportunities fund has a focus on small and mid-cap companies. Manager Rosemary Banyard covers the challenges faced by smaller companies, changing sentiment, and political influences on the AIM market during this interview. We also explore the impact of M&A activities on the fund's portfolio and turnover. We finish with a case study illustrating the concept of long-term compounding success and the fund's criteria for investing in companies with sustainable moats.

What’s covered in this episode: 

• What portion of the fund is currently in small and mid-caps?
• Is sentiment improving for UK small-caps?
• Will smaller companies see a rebound in 2024?
• What is the AIM market?
• M&A activity in the portfolio
• Can M&A activity continue for the year ahead
• Turnover in the fund last year
• The fund’s long-term compounding focus
• The company whose share has gone up six-fold
• What’s are sustainable and competitive moats? 
• Case study into A.G. Barr and their “moats”
• Case study into GlobalData and partial selloff

More about the fund:

Launched in 2020, the VT Downing Unique Opportunities fund is managed by experienced professional Rosemary Banyard who has over 30 years of industry expertise. Rosemary seeks companies with sustained competitive advantages, low debt, and strong management. The portfolio is highly concentrated, comprising of just 25-40 names.

Learn more on fundcalibre.com

Please remember, we’ve been discussing individual companies to bring investing to life for you. It’s not a recommendation to buy or sell. The fund may or may not still hold these companies at the time of listening. Elite Ratings are based on FundCalibre’s research methodology and are the opinion of FundCalibre’s research team only.