UK Small & Mid-sized Companies sector

The fund specialises in medium-sized UK businesses. The manager considers both the economic outlook and the pros and cons of individual businesses when choosing which companies to invest in.

This fund is focused on delivering long-term growth by investing in companies from the FTSE 250 index of medium-sized businesses. It could work well in the UK part of a portfolio alongside funds that invest in UK companies either bigger or smaller in size.

Richard Bullas, the fund's manager, invests in companies that are often from unfashionable sectors. That's where he thinks he can find opportunities many other investors have overlooked. He doesn't invest in many companies, so each one can make a big difference to how the fund performs, but this is higher risk than a more diversified approach. Bullas is an experienced investor and has the support of a team that we rate highly.

The fund aims to track the performance of the FTSE 250 including investment trusts index as closely as possible.

The fund is a simple, low-cost way to invest in medium-sized UK companies. It could be a useful option for portfolios seeking broad exposure to more domestic UK businesses, or could work well alongside a FTSE 100 tracker to provide more diversification and growth potential.

The fund invests in all constituents of the FTSE 250 index, and in the same proportion. This includes the investment trusts of the index, many of which invest overseas, which gives the fund a bit more international exposure than an ex-investment trusts equivalent.

The team at HSBC has done an excellent job of tracking the index over the long term, in no small part by keeping costs low. We think the fund is a simple and convenient option for investing in a broad range of medium-sized UK companies and investment trusts.

The team that runs this fund invests in all the businesses of the FTSE 250 index, but doesn't invest in the investment trusts within the index.

As a passive fund, this is a simple and low-cost option for exposure to UK medium-sized companies. It could be useful for portfolios wanting exposure to smaller, more domestically-focused UK businesses with more room for growth than those from the FTSE 100. Many of the investment trusts in the wider index invest outside the UK, so the fund offers purer exposure to medium-sized UK businesses.

Legal & General is one of the largest and best-resourced providers of index tracker funds in the UK, and has shown skill at closely tracking the funds' respective indices. We think the team behind it will do an equally good job over the long term, although there are no guarantees.

Royal London UK Smaller Companies aims for long-term growth by investing in some of the smallest companies in the UK stock market.

Growth is the overarching style of the fund, which means the managers focus on companies with long-term earnings growth potential. They also consider valuation meaning a company's share price should be lower than its future earnings suggest it should be. This investment approach is 'GAAP' - growth at an attractive price. We think lead manager Henry Lowson is a passionate and experienced smaller companies investor with the potential to deliver attractive returns over the long term, although there’s no guarantees.

This fund aims to deliver long-term growth by investing in smaller companies that have more room to grow than larger ones.

Paul Jourdan, David Stevenson and Scott McKenzie, the fund's managers, are more conservative in their approach than many others in the sector. They look for high-quality, financially-strong and growing businesses that, because of their size, are overlooked by many other investors. These can be from tiny 'micro-cap' companies all the way up to those on the cusp of becoming large ones.

We think the team's experience, track record and sensible approach means they have the ability to deliver good long-term results for investors. We think the fund could be a useful option for adding growth potential to an adventurous portfolio mainly invested in larger companies. As always, past performance isn't a guide to the future.