Neil Hermon, Portfolio Manager of The Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust talks about the performance of UK small caps year-to-date, areas where he is finding opportunities, risks to the UK market, and his approach to ESG.

Key Takeaways

• The Trust has had a tricky 2022 so far, with investor sentiment largely driven by concerns over higher inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the threat of higher interest rates in the face of slowing global growth.
• Despite higher equity market volatility, we still have a very low portfolio turnover. We are long-term investors focused on the fundamentals of a business – so we will use this period of down markets to top up our positions.
• We focus on quality growth-orientated businesses; as a result, our portfolio consists of companies with good ESG credentials. We believe that engagement is the key to ensuring that our portfolio companies deliver on the improvements they are making towards Environmental, Social and Governance issues

Catch up on previous episodes of Trust Radio