Fund of the week: Cheap off-beat small-caps

This cheap fund has outperformed the market this year with its focus on well-managed smaller firms.

Small-cap investing has traditionally been seen as a risky option. However, Mike Prentis, who runs the BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (LSE: BRSC), begs to differ. Indeed, as he tells The Daily Telegraph's Robert Miller, "data going back to 1955 show that smaller companies have outperformed their larger counterparts". His fund is certainly doing well, up 21.7% since the start of 2012.

Prentis, who has run the fund since 2002, places great emphasis on the people running the companies. In order to win his interest, "management have got to show that they can grow their business organically". One of the firms that he believes meets these criteria is high-tech manufacturer Oxford Instruments, the fund's largest holding.

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Oxford Instruments2.8%
Hargreaves Services2.0%
Bellway1.8%
Aveva Group1.8%
Senior1.6%
ITE Group1.6%
Fidessa Group1.5%
City of London1.4%
Booker Group1.4%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering1.3%
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