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

Royce Small-Cap Trust Manager Commentary

The Fund held its longer-term relative advantages over the Russell 2000 Index, beating it on both an NAV and market price basis for the 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 25-, 30-, 35-year, and since inception (11/26/86) periods ended 6/30/24.

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Fund Performance

Royce Small-Cap Trust (RVT) advanced 4.7% on an NAV (net asset value) basis and 3.3% on a market price basis for the year-to-date period ended 6/30/24, versus respective returns of 1.7% and -0.7% for its primary small-cap benchmark, the unleveraged Russell 2000 Index, and the unleveraged S&P SmallCap 600 Index, for the same period. The Fund also maintained its longer-term relative advantages over the Russell 2000, beating it on both an NAV and market price basis for the 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 25-, 30-, 35-year, and since inception (11/26/86) periods ended 6/30/24.

What Worked… And What Didn’t

Six of RVT’s 11 equity sectors contributed to 2024’s first-half performance, led by Industrials, Information Technology, and Financials. The top detractors were Real Estate, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary. At the industry level, semiconductors & semiconductor equipment (Information Technology) contributed most, followed by two groups in Industrials: construction & engineering and trading companies & distributors. The top detractors were real estate management & development (Real Estate), life sciences tools & services (Health Care), and diversified telecommunication services (Communication Services).

The Fund’s top contributor at the position level was IES Holdings, which designs and installs electrical and technology systems into numerous infrastructure segments. Through a thoughtful growth strategy focused on both internal and external opportunities, IES has slowly built scale in each of its four business segments. This has resulted in rapidly improving operating profitability, driving strong growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortization (“EBITDA”). Impinj manufactures radio-frequency identification chips that are used for location and authentication, which go into readers and a variety of retail items and which help companies manage, track, and secure their inventories. Starting in the apparel industry, Impinj has won customers in the larger categories of general merchandise and package logistics, thereby extending its growth runway. Its share rebounded following excess channel inventory overhang and slower retail apparel spending just as many companies have been affected by similar supply chain issues. Given its valuation expansion in recent months, we trimmed our position but still like its longer-term prospects.

The portfolio’s top detractor at the position level was Enovis Corporation, an orthopedic-focused, medical technology company with a global market share in Prevention & Recovery, including braces and rehabilitation products, as well as a growing Reconstruction segment. Its stock has been under pressure since closing its acquisition of LimaCorporate earlier this year. The strategic fit and valuation of the deal make sense to us, but near-term integration is always a risky process, especially with new leadership in Enovis Reconstruction segment. Investors appear to be waiting for evidence that product line rationalization, salesforce integration, cost synergies, and, ultimately, revenue growth from cross-selling the combined company’s product are materializing consistent with management’s expectations. We chose to hold our position in Globalstar in the first half of this year. The company offers a low earth orbit satellite constellation for satellite phone, data, and earth observations and offers services to various industries and users in more than 120 countries. The company issued guidance for 2024 that disappointed some investors and analysts, which was a major factor in its share price decline in the first half. We are confident that the company’s long-term prospects remain sound.

RVT’s advantage over the Russell 2000 in the first half of 2024 was mostly attributable to stock selection, though sector allocation was also additive. At the sector level, stock selection in Industrials, Financials, and Information Technology (where our overweight also helped) did most to boost relative performance. Conversely, relative results were most hampered by a much lower weight in Energy, stock selection in Communication Services, and stock selection and a lower weight in Consumer Staples.


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

IES Holdings
Impinj
TransMedics Group
FTAI Aviation
Coherent Corp.

1 Includes dividends

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

Enovis Corporation
Globalstar
Quaker Houghton
Forward Air
Ziff Davis

2 Net of dividends

Current Positioning And Outlook

We anticipate that active managers who focus on earnings growth remain best positioned for strong performance going forward. Our outlook is rooted first in the fact that the Russell 2000 ended June with a near-record number of companies with no earnings. Second, earnings acceleration is expected to be higher for small-cap companies than for large-cap businesses through the end of 2024. This encouraging earnings picture is buttressed by a growing U.S. economy that we expect to see more and more tangible benefits from reshoring, the CHIPS Act, and infrastructure improvements in the coming months. Along with increasing recognition for the small-cap companies that are providing the ‘pick and shovel’ for AI applications, we feel these activities should foster advantages for active small-cap managers who focus on profitable companies and other fundamental measures of financial and operational strength. Needless to say, we think the Fund is very well positioned to continue outperforming the overall small-cap market in this kind of environment.

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

QTR1 YTD1 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR 15YR 20YR 25YR 35YR SINCE INCEPT.
(11/26/86)
RVT -2.733.2713.41-0.119.648.1612.137.689.4010.299.70
XRVTX (NAV) -1.374.6713.940.999.858.3411.878.319.2810.2610.31

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 invests primarily in securities of small-cap and 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. From time to time, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its net assets in foreign securities, which may involve political, economic, currency, and other risks not encountered in U.S. investments.

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: IES Holdings was 1.2%, Impinj was 1.3%, TransMedics Group was 1.2%, FTAI Aviation was 0.7%, Coherent Corp. was 0.4%, Enovis Corporation was 1.2%, Globalstar was 0.3%, Quaker Houghton was 0.8%, Forward Air was 0.1%, Ziff Davis was 0.9%.


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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