INVESTORS PLOUGH CASH INTO SMITH’S NEW FUND

VETERAN fund manager Terry Smith has more than doubled the size of his new fund – and is planning to invest £600m in small companies around the world.

The Smithson Investment Trust, which is listing on the London Stock Exchange this month, had originally set out to raise a comparatively small £250m of savers’ money.

But after experiencing ‘very significant demand’ from institutional investors, wealth managers and individuals, it decided to increase its upper limit. The figures highlight the popularity of Smith, 65, who is based in Mauritius ( pictured).

Smith’s original Fundsmith Equity fund, which launched eight years ago, is worth around £17bn. An investor who put £1,000 in at launch would have more than £4,000, while the same amount placed with its average competitor in the same time would have turned into just over £2,000.

Smith said he launched Smithson after monitoring a lot of smaller companies which were performing better than his Fundsmith portfolio because of their size.