T ROWE PRICE US SMALLER COMPANIES EQUITY FUND: Forget the Magnificent Seven - it now »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶âs to start thinking small

When UK Åê»ñ²Ès think about US ¸øÀµ¡¤ÉáÄ̳ô¼ç¸¢s, their minds tend to ¾ÇÅÀ¡Ê¤ò¹ç¤ï¤»¤ë¡Ë on the big American tech companies that continue to ±É¤¨¤ë on a Á´À¤³¦¤Î ¹Ô¤¦¡¿³«ºÅ¤¹¤ë¡¿Ãʳ¬ while ÇÛ㤹¤ëing (in most »öÎã¡¿´µ¼Ôs) exciting ³ô¼ç returns.

Already this year, the ³ô prices, in dollar ¾ò·ï, of ¥¢¥Þ¥¾¥ó, Nvidia and Meta ? all members of the 'Magnificent Seven' ¥®¥ã¥ó¥°¡ÊÃÄ¡Ë of ¼çÍ×¤Ê US ºß¸Ë¡¿³ôs ? have risen by 22, 85 and 46 per cent ¤½¤ì¤¾¤ì.?

Yet there are some Åê»ñ ÀìÌç²Ès who believe the time may be ¸¢Íø for Åê»ñ²Ès to think outside of these big world leaders and look ¤É¤³¤«¤è¤½¤Ç for value. ¤ÎÃæ¤Ç them is Maryland-based Åê»ñ house T Îó¡¿Á椰¡¿ÁûÆ° Price.

With Íø±×¡¿¶½Ì£ Ψ ºï¸º¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ës on the way and ¥¤¥ó¥Õ¥ì¡¼¥·¥ç¥ó Íî¤Á¤ëing, this ÆÈΩ¤·¤¿¡¦Ìµ½ê° »ñ»º ·Ð±Ä¼Ô¡¿»ÙÇÛ¿Í ? with more than $1.4 °ìÃû (¡ò1.1 °ìÃû) of ´ð¶âs under its belt ? argues it is time for Åê»ñ²Ès to consider the ¹µÁÊ¡¤¾å¹ð of smaller companies.

In simple ¾ò·ï, it is of the opinion that some of the country's tech µðÂç¡Ê¤Ê¡Ës are overvalued on the ³ô¼°»Ô¾ì ? while many smaller companies are unloved, undervalued and ready for a ³ô price bounce-»Ù±ç¤¹¤ë.

'We are in some ways where the US market was in 1973,' says Michele ¶è, a US ¸øÀµ¡¤ÉáÄ̳ô¼ç¸¢ Âç¿Ã¤ÎÃÏ°Ì specialist with T Îó¡¿Á椰¡¿ÁûÆ°.

'»Ù±ç¤¹¤ë then, we had ¥¤¥ó¥Õ¥ì¡¼¥·¥ç¥ó ÌäÂ꡿ȯ¹Ô¤¹¤ës, rising energy prices, war in Vietnam and political ÉÔ°ÂÄê »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë home ? and the ³ô¼°»Ô¾ì took a big ¹¶·â¤¹¤ë¡¤¾×Æͤ¹¤ë as ´üÂÔs about what the big companies could ÇÛ㤹¤ë got overblown.

'But it resulted in US smaller ºß¸Ë¡¿³ôs then going on to outperform for the next £±£°Ç¯´Ö. It feels like we are now in Îà»÷¤Î ÎÎÅÚ.'

The T Îó¡¿Á椰¡¿ÁûÆ° Price US Smaller Companies ´ð¶â ¤Þ¤ºÂè°ì¤Ë¡¿ËÜÍè Åê»ñ¤¹¤ës in US companies that form part of the Russell 2500 ? an º÷°ú ¹½À®¤¹¤ëing smaller and Ãæ±û¤Î-cap ºß¸Ë¡¿³ôs.?

'It's where the likes of Tesla and Starbucks started,' says ¶è. 'For Åê»ñ ·Ð±Ä¼Ô¡¿»ÙÇÛ¿Ís there are lots of ŬÀڤʻþ´üs to make alpha (Ķ²á) returns.'

If the market value of a ºß¸Ë¡¿³ô means it outgrows the Russell 2500, the ´ð¶â will continue to »ý¤Ä¡¿¹´Î±¤¹¤ë it ¶¡µë¤¹¤ëd there remains the chance to make money on the Åê»ñ.

?'We've owned aggregates company Vulcan ¹½À®Í×ÁÇs for eight years,' says ¶è. 'It has a market capitalisation of $36 billion, ÆóÎÝÂÇ the largest Áªµó¸¢¤ò»ý¤Ä¡¿Áªµó¿Í in the Russell 2500.

'But it remains a ¼Á ¾¦Çä¡¿»Å»ö that has quarries °ÌÃÖ¤ò¼¨¤¹d in 22 ÌÀ¸À¤¹¤ë¡¿¸øɽ¤¹¤ës and has tremendous pricing ÎÏ¡¿¶¯ÎϤˤ¹¤ë. We will »ý¤Ä¡¿¹´Î±¤¹¤ë it for some time to come.'

The ´ð¶â ¸½ºß¡¿°ìÈÌ¤Ë has around 175 holdings and it is deliberately Åê»ñ¤¹¤ëd across all of the market's ½ÅÍ×¤Ê ÉôÌçs. Individual holdings rarely ±Û¤¨¤ë two per cent of the ´ð¶â's »ñ»ºs with Íø±×¡Ê¤ò¤¢¤²¤ë¡Ës taken if they do.

For example, Molina Healthcare Âåɽ¤¹¤ëd 2.4 per cent of the Âç¿Ã¤ÎÃÏ°Ì in late 2022, but the ²Ð·º¡¿ÅÒ¤±¤ë has now been trimmed »Ù±ç¤¹¤ë so that the »ý¤Ä¡¿¹´Î±¤¹¤ëing sits ¤ÎÃæ¤Ç the ºÇ¹â¤Î¡¤¤ò±Û¤¹ 15.

Over the past one, three and five years, the ´ð¶â has comfortably outperformed the ÉáÄ̤Ρ¿Ê¿¶Ñ¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë for its North American smaller companies peer group with ³Æ¡¹¤Î returns of 19, 19 and 80 per cent.

¶è says the company's ability to ÇÛ㤹¤ë 'alpha' is in part a result of having '50 »Ï¤á¤ë¡¤·è¤á¤ës of feet on the street' (ʬÀϲÈs) looking at Åê»ñ ŬÀڤʻþ´üs.

'Between them,' she Äɲ乤ës, 'they held more than 2,300 ²ñ¹çs with companies last year, ¿­¤Ó¡Ê¤ë¡Ëing a big insight into what companies to buy, sell or Èò¤±¤ë.' The ¡ ò266 million ´ð¶â has ¶¥Áè¤Î·ã¤·¤¤ ǯ¼¡¤Î ¹ðȯ¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë¡¤¹ðÁʡʤ¹¤ë¡Ë¡¿ÎÁ¶âs, totalling 0.95 per cent. It does not »Ùʧ¤¦¡¿Ä¶â a ¡Ê³ô¼ç¤Ø¤Î¡ËÇÛÅö.