UK small cap shares are charging ahead of blue chips. While the FTSE 100 has declined slightly in the year to date – down 3.9 per cent – the FTSE Aim All Share index is up almost 35 per cent, while the FTSE Small Cap Index has risen 29 per cent.

Investors in small cap funds have been the major beneficiaries of this bullishness, with many fund managers achieving outperformance. Gartmore’s Fledgling investment trust, for example, has risen in value by 62 per cent so far this year.