Balmoral Investors partners with Mantis to launch a new micro-cap capability

Damien Hatfield

Mantis Funds has partnered with Balmoral Investors to bring the Balmoral Investors Micro Cap Fund (the “Fund”) to Australian investors. The Fund provides a diversified portfolio of quality micro-cap companies with a focus on those with a market capitalisation of less than $750 million at the time of investment.

“There is strong and growing interest from private clients and their advisors in quality micro-cap investments managed by seasoned investors. However, accessing experienced portfolio managers with capacity is very challenging. We are privileged to have reconnected with our old friends and colleagues, Tim Canham and Wik Farwerck, to bring their capability to our clients.

“Tim and Wik have outstanding track records in the micro-cap universe and we are excited to see how they blossom in their new (wholly investment owned) guise,” said Damien Hatfield, Partner and Head of Distribution at Mantis Funds.

“We are delighted to be able to offer a new capability in micro-cap investing, albeit with two experienced portfolios managers at Balmoral Investors. For too long micro caps have been seen as simply an addendum to small cap investing. We disagree with that and believe it is a very different skill set given the size, liquidity and capital constraints micro-cap companies face. We see this part of the market as very under-researched and below the radar of the passive investor cohort. Valuations are as attractive as I have seen across my career,” added Tim Canham, portfolio manager at Balmoral Investors.

“After managing one of the largest micro-cap products in the market at circa $500 million for over 15 years, with a strong record of alpha generation, we are very well equipped to invest in this space. By concentrating on a specific part of the sharemarket, namely stocks with a market cap below $750 million, we can focus our research and stock picking expertise.

“Our ability to maintain continuity with our previous portfolio construction methods, detailed financial modelling and investment process has given Balmoral a fast start to creating a new investment house,” said Wik Farwerck, portfolio manager at Balmoral Investors.