Sanford Deland Asset Management is seeking to raise at least £100m in the IPO of its UK Buffettology Smaller Companies Trust, which will be managed by Chief Investment Officer Keith Ashworth-Lord.

As the name suggests, the fund will be based on the investment principles of star fund manager Warren Buffett and will initially invest in 30 to 50 smaller AIM listed companies, with a market valuation in the region of £20-500m at the time of the investment. Sanford DeLand already runs the UK Buffettology and Free Spirit both,  top 10 performing portfolios in the UK All Companies sector over the past 3 years.

We interviewed CIO Keith Ashworth-Lord below about the Trust, who outlines the rationale behind the IPO.