The Utah based asset manager specializing in global micro cap stocks expands.

On October 31, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors, an offspring firm of likeminded Wasatch Funds, announced the addition of two more professionals to the Grandeur Peak team.

Amy Hone, joins the firm as vice president of trading and operations, and Mark Siddoway joins as head of client relations.
Grandeur, with 42 million assets under management, is focused on utilizing bottom-up research to invest in global micro cap stocks, or companies with less than a market cap of three billion, according to Bloomberg. Such “undiscovered” companies experience “faster growth, at better valuations due to the lack of analyst coverage,” Eric Huefner, president of Grandeur Peak, said.

Yet due to the nature of investing in global companies, driven by the growth of foreign economies, maintaining the best operational standards are more challenge, said Hone.

“Global monitoring is more challenging than domestic monitoring just as you would expect,” she told Markets Media. “Not only is the breadth of companies much greater, but rules also varying by country. We also leverage our external providers (sub advisors) to help us navigate and manage the fluid landscape of global operations.”

Hone, formerly of Wasatch, led the “the international task force at Wasatch Advisors for several years and became more skilled at registering, trading, and monitoring holdings across developed, emerging, and frontier markets,” she noted.

“Our scope at Grandeur Peak is very similar to the scope we built at Wasatch, so I’m comfortable that we understand the current operational and compliance challenges in these markets.”

From a distribution standpoint, Siddoway is embracing retail channels to enhance the firm’s investor base.

“We expect our clients will include retail investors (large and small), financial advisors, and institutions. After two weeks we have $42 million in assets under management, comprised of both financial advisors and retail investors,” he said.

“At this point our funds are available directly from Grandeur Peak, through Schwab, and at Scottrade. We expect to be available on Fidelity, Pershing, and other platforms in the near future.”

Moreover, Siddoway advised that a mutual fund was designated as the best distribution vehicle for the firm’s products, over a private entity.

“We structured ourselves as a mutual fund, despite the increased costs and regulations of mutual funds because we wanted to be accessible to any interested investor,” he noted.

“We are seeking a mix of clients who share our vision for global investing and understand the unique opportunity we have to use our small cap expertise and a small asset base to pursue the grand landscape of less followed global small/micro cap companies.”