A fast moving market and a series of takeovers accounted for a high turnover within his top ten holdings between May and August this year, as picked up by Fundswire.
"[Education group] Melorio was my number one holding, and was a great success for the fund. It was taken over in July, unfortunately at a price which I felt was well below fair value, and is no longer a holding," Rodrigs said (pictured right).
Within his portfolio the manager favours financials, but admits he was 'extremely grateful' not to hold any of the big banks which were hit during the financial crisis.
Globeop Financial Services is one of the manager's top picks, despite having fallen out of his top ten holdings. The company provides back office services for hedge funds, ensuring that their inflows and outflows are correct.
Rodrigs says that, following the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, and the financial crisis in general, this sort of niche business is in high demand. Rodrigs bought the stock at 140p in September 2009, and now the holding is worth around 260p. The manager has also H&T Pawnbrokers in his holdings, which has been a boost to the portfolio.
Financial Express data shows the fund outperformed its sector over a one year period. That outperformance is also true over three and five years.
Performance of Investec UK Smaller Companies vs sector over 1-yr
Source: Financial Express Analytics
The manager has recently shifted his portfolio more into cyclical stocks, saying there is good value in this area. One is specialist chemicals group Elementis.
However, he has been disappointed by Hill and Smith, the company which makes steel road barriers, which is being hit by transport reforms from the new government.
Going forwards, Rodrigs is positive on the outlook at the stock specific level. While the macro outlook might be gloomy, companies all seem to have something positive to say, and many have tended to outperform.
He said: "I think we're heading for the second big leg of the small cap rally. The first leg was between spring and autumn last year. We've had the pain, now we'll have the gain."