Fairlight fund recommended by Zenith


Fairlight Asset Management’s Global Small and Mid Cap fund has achieved a ‘Recommended’ rating from Zenith, with the investment researcher praising the firm’s business stability and fund positioning.
Zenith’s Recommended rating was for products deemed to be strong investments within their respective asset class.
The fund had a long-only concentrated strategy investing in 30-40 businesses in markets outside of Australia and was a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
Nicholas Cregan, Fairlight portfolio manager and co-founder, said it was a rigorous and welcomed endorsement of their strategy.
“We believe the small and mid cap sector, as compared to its large and mega cap counterparts, represents a significantly under researched segment of the market,” Cregan said.
“There is a wealth of evidence to support the claim that globally, smaller companies outperform their larger counterparts over the long-term.”
Over one year to 31 August, the fund has returned 20.6% according to FE Analytics, versus returns of 7.9% by the ACS Equity- Global Small and Mid Cap sector.
Quan Nguyen, head of equities at Zenith, said Cregan and deputy manager Ian Carmichael were capable investors with complementary skillsets.
“We believe the investment team is sufficiently resourced to provide high levels of analytical research,” Nguyen said.
“From a business stability perspective, Fairlight's partnership with the founders of Perennial, which was struck in May 2019, provides Zenith with a high degree of comfort. Overall, Zenith believes the fund is well positioned to deliver upon its investment objectives.”
Performance of Fairlight Global Small and Mid Cap fund over one year to 31 August versus ACS Equity - Global Small/Mid Cap sector.
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