Former Gresham House portfolio manager Laurence Hulse has launched a UK smaller companies investment company after joining Dowgate Wealth in September last year.

Onward Opportunities Limited (ONWD) was listed on AIM this morning after raising £12.8m to deploy in smaller companies. It listed in Guernsey in January. Dowgate is providing the portfolio management for the investment company.

The closed-end fund will aim to generate ‘risk-adjusted absolute returns’ via a portfolio of 20-25 UK smaller companies, which the team will actively engage with.

Hulse was formerly co-manager of Gresham House’s Strategic Public Equity fund and its UK Smaller Companies fund.

He also deputised on the Gresham House Strategic (now Rockwood Strategic ) trust.

Hulse was Citywire AA-rated at the point of leaving Gresham House.

Dowgate was founded in 2020 by a team of ex-Hargreave Hale investment professionals led by chief executive Mark Chadwick. The launch of Onward Opportunities gives the firm its first investment company.

Chadwick said Onward’s launch would sit ‘right at home’ alongside the team’s small cap heritage.

‘The market volatility of 2022 has created a statistically interesting time to deploy capital into robust, well-researched investment ideas in the UK,’ he said. 

‘We are confident that Onward Opportunities will prove to be a popular proposition for investors looking for an innovative product that can provide absolute returns.’