Christopher Mills, the UK activist investor and grandson of Bertram Mills, the circus owner, has never seen the point of big game hunting. “I don’t want to compete in the big league,” he says. “You don’t get a competitive advantage. All you have is gearing.” An unconventional view, maybe. But smaller companies have given Mills aged 60 his big break.

Over the past 30 years, taking account of warrants, Mills says his North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust, or Nascit, has risen 4,750%, against 937% from its benchmark, the S&P 500's sterling value.