New Name Reflects Broader Investment Mandate
'The investment process didn't change,' explained company spokesperson Rowena Itchon. 'We felt that the word 'smaller' better defines the types of companies in the fund.'
The fund, which celebrates its five-year anniversary this month, began as a true micro-cap, with a $500 million capitalization limit. However, as companies bloated in value and their IPO values soared, many companies rose out of reach of the fund's investment strategy.
'Because of the '99 market, a lot of times when a company went public, its market cap shot up so quickly,' said Itchon. 'We wanted to increase the market cap of the fund in order to be able to invest in those smaller companies.'
In February of 2000, the limit was raised to the current level of $750 million. With the market downturn, RS could have returned the limit to its original level.
'I'm not sure that would be in the bet interest of the shareholders,' said Itchon. 'We decided to change the name instead.'
