The fund, which will be available for investment from 19 January next year, will look to take advantage of growth opportunities in both developed and emerging small-cap markets. It will aim to outperform the average vehicle in its IMA Global sector in the long-term, as well as the MSCI All Country World Small Cap index.
Nimmo will operate a concentrated portfolio of 40-80 stocks and, like his £1bn Standard Life UK Smaller Companies fund, it will target quality, predictable high-growth stocks.
The sector-topping small cap fund was soft-closed in April of this year following mass inflows; however, investors now have an opportunity to gain exposure to the manager with Standard Life’s latest fund launch.
According to FE data, Standard Life UK Smaller Companies has returned 441.49 per cent since it was launched in January 1997, outperforming its IMA UK Smaller Companies sector and benchmark by 261.47 per cent.
Performance of fund versus sector since 1997
Source: FE Analytics
The fund is a top quartile performer over a three, five and ten year period.
An investment of £1,000 in Nimmo a decade ago would now be worth £2,695.50, compared to £1,915.11 if the same amount had been invested in the manager’s peer group composite.
While the economic and market outlook for 2012 is uncertain at best, Nimmo says he is excited by the prospect of running such a flexible small cap portfolio.
“In the short term, the shadow of the euro hangs over all asset classes and markets; however the recent period of weakness is beginning to turn up high quality growth businesses at really quite modest valuations,” he said.
“The current levels of pessimism in markets mean that negative scenarios are already being built into many share prices.”
Nimmo says his focus will be exceedingly diverse, ranging from US retailiers, to internet businesses that target changing consumer patterns in China.
The fund is available pre-launch exclusively through Hargreaves Lansdown’s Vantage platform with effect from 23rd December 2012. It will have an estimated total expense ratio (TER) of 1.82 per cent, and a minimum initial investment of £500.