Mike Valentine, portfolio manager, Wasatch

Independent investment firm Wasatch Global Investors has launched its Wasatch US Select fund, which will focus on growth stocks in the mid-cap range.

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wasatch has operated in the growth investment space for over 45 years.

Its Small Cap Growth fund outperformed its benchmark in the year to September 2021, growing by 42.5 percent compared with 33.3 percent for the Russell 2000 Growth index.

The fund will be managed by Mike Valentine, who has worked at the firm for over five years. Previously, he was a portfolio manager at Point72 Asset Management and Fidelity Investments.

Mr Valentine, said: “As small-cap specialists, we often find companies in which there’s still tremendous headroom for growth as their stocks move beyond small market capitalisation limits.”

“At the same time, these firms are building upon their competitive advantages and becoming even higher-quality businesses. In our view, a portfolio of such companies has the potential to provide the growth traditionally found in small-cap stocks, but with higher quality.”

Founded in 1975, Wasatch is an employee-owned investment firm focusing on micro, small and mid-cap firms, in the US and globally. It has $33 billion invested across 19 funds.