Don’t worry if you missed this week’s virtual event with River and Mercantile UK Micro-Cap (RMMC ) fund manager George Ensor, you can watch the whole programme here.

In the recording, Ensor runs through a checklist of four conditions necessary for a rebound in the depressed UK smaller company sector, and finds he’s ticking them all!

In his presentation, Ensor does not play down how disappointing and difficult the last three years have been for UK small-cap funds like his. However, with the valuation of UK equities at a 20-year low compared to global markets, he is convinced better times are ahead as inflation and interest rates fall.

Ensor defends his fund’s track record, saying it has delivered positive returns in seven out of nine years and returned £77m to shareholders since 2015, more than its current market value.

The return of capital is a result of the company’s innovative share redemption policy that ensures the closed-end fund does not become too big for the ‘micro cap’ stocks under £100m that the manager buys.

Historically, micro-caps have been valued at a premium to larger companies, because of their bigger growth potential, an advantage Ensor says is also due a revival.

A transcript will be available soon.