Occupying the middle ground: Keiron Root talks to a fund manager who makes the most of mid-cap stocks.

Publication: What Investment

Publication Date: 01-DEC-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Charterhouse Communications

Leigh Himsworth is not your typical fund manager. Based in the Leeds office of Rensburg Fund Management, the investment management subsidiary of private client stockbroker Rensburg Sheppards, he had a financial career outside of the investment business before entering fund management. And he now specialises in the often-overlooked area of mid-cap companies.

"My background includes a law degree, after which I trained as an accountant for five years and did an MBA for a year," says Himsworth. "Then I joined Rensburg. I had three years primarily on the fund management side, and then moved to the Nestle pension fund, where I concentrated on small and mid-cap stocks. In 2001, I rejoined Rensburg and I've run the Mid Cap Growth fund since then."

He believes that the most relevant bit from his history is the accounting background, which he feels fits in more with running a small and mid-cap portfolio than a larger cap fund. "The investment process I follow is similar to that of the other fund managers here," he says. "although it will tend to be a combination of large cap and small-cap disciplines. It's also a combination of taking a macroeconomic outlook and putting that with stock selection."

Himsworth is keen to highlight the attractions of the mid cap area of the market. He argues the reason why investors go down the capitalisation scale is to get greater growth. However, he says it's almost as if you come across a mental blockage when you try to get people to invest outside the FTSE 100. And, when they do, they go from the sublime to...

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