Royce Micro-Cap Trust Manager Commentary
article 08-22-2024

Royce Micro-Cap Trust Manager Commentary

The Fund beat the Russell 2000 on both an NAV and market price basis for the 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-year, and since inception (12/14/93) periods ended 6/30/24.

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Fund Performance

Royce Micro-Cap Trust (RMT) advanced 4.8% on an NAV (net asset value) basis and 3.3% on a market price basis in the year-to-date period ended 6/30/24, a gain of 1.7% for its primary unleveraged benchmark, the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, and a loss of -0.8% for its secondary benchmark, the unleveraged Russell Microcap Index, for the same period. The Fund beat the Russell 2000 on both an NAV and market price basis for the 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-year, and since inception (12/14/93) periods ended 6/30/24.

What Worked… And What Didn’t

Seven of RMT’s 11 equity sectors had a positive effect on performance in 2024’s first half, with the biggest positive contributions coming from Industrials, Information Technology, and Energy. Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, and Real Estate were the detractors. At the industry level, semiconductors & semiconductor equipment (Information Technology), construction & engineering (Industrials), and chemicals (Materials) were the top contributors while the biggest detractors were life sciences tools & services (Health Care), electronic equipment, instruments & components (Information Technology), and professional services (Industrials).

The Fund’s top contributor at the position level was Camtek, which designs and manufactures high-end metrology and inspection systems for the semiconductor industry. Accelerated demand for High Band Width Memory chips for Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications has boosted demand for its technology. IES Holdings designs and installs electrical and technology systems into numerous infrastructure segments. Through a thoughtful growth strategy, IES has slowly built scale in each of its four business segments, resulting in rapidly improving operating profitability. Aspen Aerogels manufactures aerogel insulation products that have many applications for industrial uses, but most importantly for use in electric vehicles (“EVs”). “Thermal runaway” is the phenomenon in which the lithium-ion battery cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state causing a vehicle to catch on fire. Aspen’s PyroThin Technology has earned a reputation for preventing thermal runaway, which has been reflected in the number of critical wins for its products in the EV space. After a period of significant investment in building out manufacturing capacity, the company is beginning to ramp up production at scale, which in turn is driving strong growth in revenues and operating profitability.

RMT’s biggest detractor at the position level was Quanterix Corporation, which offers an ultra-sensitive digital immunoassay platform that’s used in research and in-vitro diagnostics. Its shares fell sharply in March due to the FDA’s concerns about another company’s similar technology and increased competition in Quanterix’s total addressable market. Luna Innovations provides optical test and measurement services. Luna had serious accounting issues that resulted in a rapid share price decline. Normally, we would be sellers after such a dramatic and unexpected turn. However, Luna’s Board of Directors acted decisively, bringing in an experienced management team. Moreover, our underlying investment case centered on what we believe is highly promising technology that should ultimately provide asset support to the shares, so we are holding our position until we have more clarity on the underlying accounting issues.

Forrester Research is a subscription-based information technology research company geared toward helping businesses maximize the use of emerging technologies. Declines in IT spending during 2023, as well as Forrester’s ongoing change to its go-to-market strategy, which includes culling smaller clients and retraining its existing sales force, are weighing on contract value and sales growth in 2024. Although the pace of progress is testing investor patience, we acted in a contrarian fashion by adding shares in 2024’s first half.


Top Contributors to Performance Year-to-Date Through 6/30/241

Camtek
IES Holdings
Aspen Aerogels
Nova
Onto Innovation

1 Includes dividends

Top Detractors from Performance Year-to-Date Through 6/30/242

Quanterix Corporation
Luna Innovations
Forrester Research
Mesa Laboratories
nLIGHT

2 Net of dividends

Current Positioning And Outlook

Being a micro-cap investor has recently felt like being in an extended production of Waiting for Godot. The market remains focused on when—or if—the Fed will begin to lower rates, and by how much. While earnings for the companies in the portfolio have remained generally solid, it is increasingly clear to us the economy and inflation are slowing. The market remains hyper-focused on each day-to-day release of economic data, but we remain focused on what we see as significant intermediate-term opportunities for our holdings. We believe we are in the early innings of secular changes related to opportunities such as the reshoring of U.S. industrial capacity, increased infrastructure spending, and the increased use cases around artificial intelligence, among other technologies. We expect these trends to benefit the “pick and shovel” providers in our portfolio for years to come. Lastly, we would be remiss if we ignored the increasing political uncertainty in the U.S. and throughout the world. As noted, we generally embrace short-term volatility as a longer-term investment opportunity, but the unsettled political environment seems to be increasing the potential of black swan events.

Average Annual Total Returns Through 06/30/24 (%)

QTR1 YTD1 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR 15YR 20YR 25YR SINCE INCEPT.
(12/14/93)
RMT -0.833.3414.05-0.9111.397.9812.638.1510.5810.02
XOTCX (NAV) 0.174.7914.79-0.0211.698.3412.318.7210.3210.64
Russell Microcap -5.27-0.845.96-7.855.555.5310.166.10N/AN/A

Annual Operating Expenses: N/A

1 Not annualized.

Important Performance, Expense, and Disclosure Information

Important Performance and Expense Information

All performance information reflects past performance, is presented on a total return basis, net of the Fund's investment advisory fee, and reflects the reinvestment of distributions. Past performance is no guarantee of future results Current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Returns as of the recent month-end may be obtained at www.royceinvest.com. The market price of the Fund's shares will fluctuate, so that shares may be worth more or less than their original cost when sold.

The Fund normally invests in micro-cap companies, which may involve considerably more risk than investing in larger-cap companies. The Fund's broadly diversified portfolio does not ensure a profit or guarantee against loss.

Current month-end performance may be obtained at our Prices and Performance page.

Notes to Performance and Other Important Information

The thoughts expressed in this report concerning recent market movements and future prospects for small company stocks are solely the opinion of Royce at June 30, 2024, and, of course, historical market trends are not necessarily indicative of future market movements. Statements regarding the future prospects for particular securities held in the Funds’ portfolios and Royce’s investment intentions with respect to those securities reflect Royce’s opinions as of June 30, 2024 and are subject to change at any time without notice. There can be no assurance that securities mentioned in this report will be included in any Royce-managed portfolio in the future.


As of 6/30/24, the percentage of Fund assets was as follows: Camtek was 2.2%, IES Holdings was 1.5%, Aspen Aerogels was 1.8%, Nova was 1.4%, Onto Innovation was 1.5%, Quanterix Corporation was 0.5%, Luna Innovations was 0.4%, Forrester Research was 0.7%, Mesa Laboratories was 1.9%, nLIGHT was 1.4%.


Sector weightings are determined using the Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”). GICS was developed by, and is the exclusive property of, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and MSCI Inc. (“MSCI”). GICS is the trademark of S&P and MSCI. “Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS)” and “GICS Direct” are service marks of S&P and MSCI.

All indexes referred to are unmanaged and capitalization weighted. Each index’s returns include net reinvested dividends and/or interest income. Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company. Neither Russell nor its licensors accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings or underlying data and no party may rely on any Russell Indexes and/or Russell ratings and/or underlying data contained in this communication. No further distribution of Russell Data is permitted without Russell’s express written consent. Russell does not promote, sponsor or endorse the content of this communication. The Russell 2000 Index is an index of domestic small-cap stocks. It measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 2000 Value and Growth Indexes consist of the respective value and growth stocks within the Russell 2000 as determined by Russell Investments. The Russell Microcap Index includes 1,000 of the smallest securities in the Russell 2000 Index, along with the next smallest eligible securities as determined by Russell. The Russell 2500 is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of the 2,500 smallest publicly traded U.S. companies in the Russell 3000 index. The returns for the Russell 2500-Financial Sector represent those of the financial services companies within the Russell 2500 index. Source: MSCI. MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indexes or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, endorsed, reviewed or produced by MSCI. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. The MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index is an unmanaged, capitalization-weighted index of global small-cap stocks.The MSCI ACWI ex USA Small Cap Index is an index of global small-cap stocks, excluding the United States.The performance of an index does not represent exactly any particular investment, as you cannot invest directly in an index. Returns for the market indexes used in this report were based on information supplied to Royce by Russell Investments. Royce has not independently verified the above described information.

This material contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that involve risks and uncertainties, including, among others, statements as to:

-the Funds’ future operating results,

-the prospects of the Funds’ portfolio companies,

-the impact of investments that the Funds have made or may make, the dependence of the Funds’ future success on the general economy and its impact on the companies and industries in which the Funds invest, and

-the ability of the Funds’ portfolio companies to achieve their objectives.

This discussion uses words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “future,” “intends,” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements for any reason.

The Royce Funds have based the forward-looking statements included in this commentary on information available to us on the date of the commentary, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Although The Royce Funds undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, you are advised to consult any additional disclosures that we may make through future shareholder communications or reports.

This material is not authorized for distribution unless preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. Smaller-cap stocks may involve considerably more risk than larger-cap stocks. (Please see “Primary Risks for Fund Investors” in the prospectus.)

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